She :1s>eachin$  of  Jesus 


I    >NCERNING 

S  OWN 


BS  2415  .A2  T4  v.l 

Teachings  of  Jesus 

concerning  the  . . 


THE  TEACHINGS  OF  JESUS 
Edited  by  JOHN  H.  KERR,  D.  D. 


THE   TEACHING    OF   JESUS 

CONCERNING 

HIS   OWN    MISSION 


Frank  Hugh  Foster,  ph.  d.,  d.  d. 


THE  TEACHING  OF  JESUS 


CONCERNING 


HIS  OWN  MISSION 


V     By 

Frank  Hugh  Foster,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D. 


AMERICAN   TRACT   SOCIETY 

150    NASSAU    STREET 
NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1903,  by 
AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


TO  THE   MEMORY  OF 

JOSEPH     HENRY    THAYER 

GRAMMARIAN,  LEXICOGRAPHER 

AND  TRANSLATOR 

OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 

PAINSTAKING   TEACHER 

ACCURATE  AND  LEARNED  EXEGETE 

KNIGHT 

WITHOUT  FEAR    AND  WITHOUT   REPROACH 

FAITHFUL  FRIEND 


PREFACE 

IT  is  the  object  of  this  book  to  present  to  the 
general  public,  without  controversy  and  in  a 
plain  manner,  the  results  of  the  best  scholarship 
respecting  its  theme.  Learned  lumber  of  every 
kind  has  been  rigorously  excluded.  Hence  there 
are  no  references  to  books,  and  no  minute  discus- 
sions. But  such  discussions  have  not  been  unex- 
amined by  the  writer ;  and  at  many  a  point  the 
argument  has  taken  silent  notice  of  them.  The 
style  has  been  condensed  as  much  as  seemed  con- 
sistent with  intelligibility.  The  hope  is  that  Sun- 
day School  classes  and  private  readers  may  here 
easily  find  what  they  want,  and  be  both  stimulated 
to  further  study  and  helped  religiously. 


CONTENTS 

I.  The  Method  of  the  Study.     .  i 

II.  The  Preparation 16 

III.  The   Fundamental    Utterances 

of  Jesus ,25 

IV.  The     Lost     World     and     the 

Kingdom  of  Heaven.     ...       32 
V.  The  Salvation  of  Healing.     .         48 
VI.  The  Salvation  of  Knowledge.         59 
VII.  The    Salvation    of   Repentance 

and  the  New  Life.       ...       72 
VIII.  The    Salvation    of    Redemption 

and  Forgiveness 84 

IX.  Salvation    at    the    Last  Judg- 
ment.          118 

X.  Summary 122 

Indices 127 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Method  of  the  Study 

rHE  advantages  of  the  Christian 
student  are  sometimes  his  disad- 
vantages. He  lives  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  which  has  been  studying 
truth  for  two  thousand  years.  All  its 
great  scholars  and  divines  are  his  teachers 
and  fathers.  He  is  naturally  inclined, 
when  he  wishes  to  know  why  Jesus 
Christ  came  into  the  world,  to  ask  these 
teachers.  He  can  scarcely  go  wrong,  he 
thinks,  if  he  takes  the  result  of  all  the 
ages  of  Christian  study  for  the  true  an- 
swer of  his  questions.  The  Church  must 
A  1 


2  His  Own  Mission 

know,  and  the  answer  of  her  scholars  is 
the  answer  of  the  Church. 

Direct  Knowledge  Best 

But  this  may  not  be  wholly  so.  When 
one  goes  into  a  cathedral,  the  light  that 
comes  pouring  through  its  windows  is 
the  light  of  the  sun ;  but  it  is  variously 
colored  and  quite  different  from  the  white 
light  outside.  Every  window  has  its 
beautiful  pictures  wrought  in  colored 
glass,  and  the  light  is  modified  in  a  differ- 
ent way  by  every  bit  through  which  it 
passes.  If  one  wishes  to  know  what  the 
sunlight  is  in  all  its  purity  and  brilliancy, 
he  must  go  out  of  the  cathedral  and  stand 
in  the  full  white  light  of  the  sun  itself. 
So  every  teacher  in  the  Church,  taking 
the  truth  from  the  revelation  made  by 
Jesus,  has  colored  it  more  or  less,  as  he 
has  transmitted  it  through  his  own  per- 
sonality. Another  will  not  get  from  him 
just  what  he  received  from  Jesus.  To 
know  the  pure  truth  of  Jesus,  it  is,  there- 


The  Method  of  the  Study        3 

fore,  necessary  to  step  outside  of  the 
Church,  and  stand  in  the  full  light  which 
shines  from  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
himself.  The  Church  gives  us  the 
knowledge  that  there  is  light,  she  points 
us  to  the  Sun,  she  has  many  a  word  of 
helpful  interpretation  to  give.  These  are 
advantages.  But  if  they  take  the  place  of 
direct  knowledge  of  Jesus  for  one's  self, 
they  become  disadvantages.  A  more 
glorious  understanding  of  the  mission 
of  Jesus  in  the  world,  of  every  truth  he 
has  had  to  reveal,  and  of  every  deed 
he  has  had  to  perform,  will  be  gained  if, 
for  a  time,  not  his  disciples  but  himself 
be  heard. 

Jesus'  Own  Words 

We  must  go,  then,  to  the  Gospels  for 
our  answer  to  the  great  question  of  this 
book  :  Why  did  Jesus  Christ  come  into  the 
World  ?  There  he  tells  us  himself  :  there 
we  stand  in  the  full  sunlight  of  truth. 
Some  have  gone  even  further,  and  have 


4  His  Own  Mission 

said  that  we  must  restrict  ourselves  to  his 
own  recorded  words.  The  disciples,  and 
even  the  inspired  Apostles,  were  men. 
They  were  "  colored,"  and  can  transmit 
only  colored  light.  If  we  want  truly 
the  pure  sunlight,  the  light  of  unmodified 
truth,  we  must  hear  not  even  what  the 
Apostles  say  about  Jesus'  teaching,  but 
the  exact  words  of  Jesus  only.  This  is 
his  teaching  uncolored  by  any  transmit- 
ting agency  whatever.  This  alone  gives 
the  exact  truth. 

If  this  further  distinction  is  correct, 
and  we  may  hope  to  obtain  knowledge 
of  Jesus'  teachings  from  his  own  words 
exclusively,  then  certain  things  must  be 
true  about  those  words.  They  must  be 
reported  with  a  great  degree  of  fulness 
and  accuracy.  We  must  be  able  to  know, 
first,  that  they  are  Jesus'  exact  words,  and, 
second,  precisely  what  they  mean,  with- 
out the  help  of  anything  except  com- 
parison of  one  teaching  with  another. 
Enigmatical  phrases,  scattered  hints  on 


The  Method  of  the  Study        5 

great  themes,  brief  and  inadequate  re- 
ports of  long  and  profound  discourses, 
will  avail  us  little.  If  the  Apostles  cor- 
rectly understood  him,  we  must  be  able 
to  justify  them  from  his  words  alone :  if 
they,  prechance,  misunderstood  him,  or 
only  partially  understood,  that  must  be 
equally  evident  from  the  same  words. 
Two  things  we  must  have,  Fulness,  and 
Precision. 

Dependence  on  the  Apostles 

Now,  evidently,  neither  of  these  things 
do  we  actually  have.  The  reports,  first, 
are  not  full,  for  in  the  fullest  examples,  as 
in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  or  in  the 
Last  Discourse,  we  may  read  in  a  few 
moments  what  must  have  taken  a  long 
time  to  deliver.  We  have  in  these  cases 
little  more  than  the  heads  of  the  dis- 
course, and  in  most  cases  only  a  glimpse  of 
the  main  substance  of  a  discourse.  The 
parables  may  be  complete,  each  in  itself ; 
but    there    were    many   more    parables. 


6  His  Own  Mission 

Often  we  have  mere  hints,  and  isolated 
phrases  to  go  on,  as  in  that  most  important 
text  for  our  present  study,  Matt.  xx.  28, 
where  the  word  "  ransom  "  starts  new 
questions  rather  than  answers  old.  If 
the  gospels  contained  nothing  but  Jesus' 
words,  how  brief,  how  inadequate  as  a 
report  of  the  teachings  of  such  a  man  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty  pages  which 
they  fill  out  in  a  quarto  Bible  !  No,  ful- 
ness is  not  to  be  found  in  the  report  of 
Jesus'  words ! 

Neither  is  verbal  precision.  When 
we  compare  parallel  passages  in  the  dif- 
ferent gospels,  how  many  variations  we 
find !  Where  is  the  verbatim  report  which 
the  accurate  student  demands  ?  Even 
John's  reports  are  so  evidently  in  the 
peculiar  style  determined  by  his  own 
marked  individuality,'  that  no  stress  can 
be  laid  upon  their  universal  verbal  pre- 

1  Compare  the  gospel  and  the  Epistles,  where  he 
was  not  controled  by  any  purpose  of  reporting. 
The  two  styles  are  the  same.     Then  compare  the 


The  Method  of  the  Study        7 

cision,  considered  as  reports.  Even  the 
professed  words  of  Jesus  are  therefore 
colored  by  the  writer's  understanding 
and  memory  of  them.  In  the  gospels 
you  are  still  in  the  cathedral  and  see  the 
light  through  the  medium  of  other  men. 

Jesus,  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 

We  must,  therefore,  pause  in  our 
search  for  the  true  light  at  that  light 
which  shines  from  the  pages  of  the  en- 
tire four  gospels  as  we  now  have  them. 
The  Jesus  whom  we  know  is  the  Jesus 
whom  the  evangelists  portray.  We  can- 
not know  him  apart  from  their  concep- 
tion of  him,  for  they  have  given  not 
him,  but  their  conception  of  him.  If  the 
two  are  different  and  contradictory,  then 
we  can  never  know  Jesus.  We  must 
go  back  to  the  words  of  Jesus,  if  we  are 
to  gain  the  best  knowledge  of  his  mission 
into  the  world ;    but  these  are  not  his 

style  of  the  first  three  gospels.  It  is  markedly 
different. 


8  His  Own  Mission 

words  in  distinction  from  their  report  in  the 
gospels  and  the  evangelists'  understand- 
ing of  them,  but  his  words  as  reported  to 
us.  Efforts  which  separate  between 
these  things  are  foredoomed  to  failure  in 
attaining  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  They 
may  gratify  the  ingenuity  of  men,  but 
they  can  never  commend  themselves  to 
any  but  those  who  make  them.  To 
success  it  is  essential  to  assume,  as  this 
present  study  will  frankly  do,  the  equal 
substantial  value  of  all  the  evangelical  rep- 
resentations oj  Jesus'  teachings,  whether 
they  be  report,  or  comment,  or  applica- 
tion, or  implication.  And  thus  the  whole 
text  of  all  the  gospels  will  be  employed 
as  the  necessary  and  indispensable  means 
of  interpreting  the  reproduction  found 
in  them  of  the  Saviour's  words. 

The  Fourth  Gospel 

But  is  not  an  exception  to  be  made  in 
reference  to  the  Fourth  Gospel  ?  Is  not 
its  individuality  too  marked  to  allow  us 


The  Method  of  the  Study        9 

to  take  it  as  giving  even  a  fairly  objective 
and  reliable  view  of  Jesus'  teaching  ?  Is 
not  the  Jesus  it  presents  distinctly  differ- 
ent from  that  Jesus  which  we  find  on 
the  pages  of  the  first  three  gospels  ?  And 
must  not  any  discussion  that  pretends  to 
have  value  distinguish  between  the  two 
forms  of  doctrine,  and  give  the  prefer- 
ence to  that  of  the  simple  and  primitive 
three  ? 

The  point  of  view  of  the  two  styles  of 
presenting  Jesus  is  enough  different  to 
justify  a  separation  in  the  treatment  of 
every  theme  between  its  synoptic,  or 
earlier  form,  and  its  Johannine.  Advan- 
tage will  often  be  found  to  flow  from 
this  separation.  But  when  all  is  said,  the 
picture  given  of  Christ  in  the  first  three, 
and  in  the  fourth  gospel  is  substantially 
the  same.  They  can  be  rendered  incon- 
sistent only  by  removing,  by  falsely  so- 
called  "  critical "  processes,  elements 
from  the  three  earlier  gospels  which  are 
found  there  and  belong  where  they  are 


io  His  Own  Mission 

found.  If  they  be  separated  for  argu- 
ment's sake,  the  argument  finally  proves 
their  agreement ;  and  to  assume  that 
agreement  is  to  find  it  constantly  con- 
firmed. The  Christ  of  the  four  gospels 
is  a  single  and  consistent  personality,  and 
his  teaching  is  better  understood  by  con- 
sidering them  all  than  by  divorcing  them. 

Environment 

A  further  principle  has  an  important 
application  to  this  study.  Everything 
pertaining  to  this  world  is  known  fully 
only  as  its  environment  is  known.  Ani- 
mal, plant,  a  race,  an  institution,  an  idea, 
— none  of  these  can  be  known  by  any 
process  which  isolates  them.  This  is 
now  accepted  and  employed  as  a  prin- 
ciple in  the  study  of  almost  every  impor- 
tant theme.  It  will  be  found  to  have  a 
direct,  but  possibly  an  unexpected  appli- 
cation to  our  present  subject. 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  must  be  under- 
stood by  a  consideration  of  his  environ- 


The  Method  of  the  Study      1 1 

ment,  and  by  the  environment  of  the 
records  which  have  transmitted  them  to 
us.  It  seems  scarcely  worth  remarking 
that  he  could  be  understood  by  the  peo- 
ple only  as  he  spoke  their  language. 
But  their  language  was  not  a  mere  list  of 
words.  Words  themselves  mean  this  or 
that  to  the  hearer  according  to  the  stock 
of  ideas  which  he  possesses,  by  which 
they  are  interpreted.  What  does  the 
word  "  wealth  "  mean  to  the  widow 
whose  entire  living  is  two  mites,  and  what 
to  the  proud  rulers  of  the  Jews  ?  What 
does  "  salvation  "  mean  to  the  sinner  who 
feels  his  unutterable  guilt,  and  the  Phari- 
see who  has  been  taught  from  the  begin- 
ning that  he  is  a  favorite  of  heaven  and 
supposes  that  he  has  "  kept  all  the  com- 
mandments from  his  youth  ?  "  Hence 
what  Jesus'  hearers  were,  what  they  had 
been  taught  and  believed,  their  history  and 
institutions  and  theology  and  forms  of 
common  life,  all  entered  into  their  prepa- 
ration for  his  teaching  and  thus  deter- 


12  His  Own  Mission 

mined  their  understanding  of  it.  And 
thus  even  his  meaning  was  determined, 
for  he  would  not,  as  a  wise  and  sincere 
teacher,  speak  so  as  to  be  inevitably  mis- 
understood, and  he  could  gain  no  credit 
with  us  if  he  did.  Thus  the  whole  of 
current  Judaism  is  to  be  taken  into  our 
view  as  we  seek  to  determine  what  Jesus 
meant  by  this  or  that  word.  And  many 
another  element  of  environment  there 
is  also. 

The  Gospels  have  an  Environment 

This  is  often  forgotten,  but  it  exists, 
and  by  it  the  gospels  must  be  interpreted. 

If  we  compare  the  dates  at  which  the 
different  books  of  the  New  Testament 
were  written,  we  discover  that  the  gospels 
are  not  the  earliest.  This  place  belongs 
to  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  The  interval  of 
time  between  epistle  and  gospel  ranges 
in  different  cases  between  the  extremes 
of  fifteen  and  forty  years.  In  the  mean- 
time the  Epistles  of  Paul  had  been  widely 


The  Method  of  the  Study      1 3 

circulated.2  We  do  not  know  how 
widely,  but  we  know  that  they  went  from 
Rome  on  the  west  to  the  heart  of  Asia 
Minor  on  the  east,  and  from  Philippi  on 
the  north  to  Colossae  on  the  south,  and 
that  they  circulated  from  church  to 
church.3  It  cannot  be  supposed  that 
the  evangelists  were  ignorant  of  their 
contents.  They  had  already  themselves 
learned  much  from  Paul.4  They  wrote 
for  a  Church  which  already  had  the  epis- 
tles, and  they  knew  that  the  gospel  ac- 
cording to  Paul  would  powerfully  affect 
the  understanding  of  their  own  gospel. 
Hence  they  must  have  written  with 
an  unconscious  if  not  a  conscious — 
better,  with  both  conscious  and  often 
unconscious  reference  to  him.  They 
were  in  his  environment,  and  he  is  essen- 
tial to  the  understanding  of  them.  Had 
they  not   agreed  with   him,  they  must 

2  Comp.  2  Pet.  iii.  15,  16. 
J  Col.  iv.  16. 
4  Gal.  ii.  1— 21. 


14  His  Own  Mission 

have  openly  opposed  him,  as  he  did  Peter 
while  there  was  still  matter  of  controversy 
between  them.5  The  fact  that  they  do 
not  oppose  him  argues  powerfully  for 
their  conscious  agreement  with  him. 
Continued  study  of  both  will  confirm 
their  agreement.  We  must  therefore 
bring  Paul  in  to  interpret  Matthew  and 
John,  as  the  early  church  did,  and  as  the 
church  has  ever  since  done.  We  are 
thus  but  recognizing  the  principle  that  a 
form — a  form  of  doctrine  as  well  as  any- 
thing else — is  known  by  its  environment. 

Doctrinal  Unity  of  the  New  Testament 

We  thus  arrive,  by  a  somewhat  new 
path,  at  an  old  principle,  upon  which  this 
book  will  be  based,  the  unity  of  the  New 
Testament.  We  cannot  separate  between 
a  "  theology  of  Jesus  "  and  a  "  theology 
of  Paul,"  the  former  of  which  should 
teach,  for  example,  free  forgiveness 
without  an  atonement,  the  latter  the  ne- 

s  Gal.  ii.  ii. 


The  Method  of  the  Study      1 5 

cessity  of  an  atonement.  At  least,  we 
cannot  do  this  before  examination.  If 
we  should  find  clear  proof  of  such  dif- 
ferences, we  should  have  to  accept  them  ; 
but  to  infer  them  from  the  fact  that  one 
is  silent,  or  indefinite  as  to  some  doctrine 
which  the  other  teaches — that  would  be 
to  forget  the  principle  of  environment. 
When  two  explanations  of  passages  can 
be  given,  one  of  which  makes  them  agree 
and  the  other  makes  them  differ,  the 
former  is  to  be  preferred.  Such  is  the 
supposition  which  is  demanded  by  a 
general  survey  of  the  relations  of  gos- 
pels and  epistles,  and  such  the  "  working 
theory  "  upon  which  we  shall  proceed, 
till  full  acquaintance  with  the  facts  has 
either  refuted  the  theory  or  confirmed 
it  beyond  the  possibility  of  further  rea- 
sonable questioning. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Preparation 

TT7r1rt^N  Jesus  appeared,  it  was,  as 
r/r  already  said,  in  the  environment 
of  the  Jewish  nation.  He  was 
born  a  Jew.  The  nation  of  which  he 
thus  became  a  member  had  long  cher- 
ished hopes  of  a  Messiah  who  should 
fulfill  the  brilliant  prophecies  about  him 
with  which  the  Old  Testament  was 
crowded.  They  knew  where  he  was  to 
be  born,1  and  that  he  was  to  be  of  the 
lineage  of  David.  They  knew  he  was 
to  be  a  king; 2  but  they  misconceived  the 

1  Matt.  ii.  5. 

2  Matt.  xxii.  42. 

16 


The  Preparation  17 

nature  of  his  kingdom,  fixing  their  eyes 
on  deliverance  from  the  yoke  of  Rome 
and  the  establishment  of  an  earthly  king- 
dom,3 and  were  thereby  rendered  unpre- 
pared for  his  spiritual  doctrine.  They 
even  had  vague  ideas  as  to  his  eternity,  as 
if  he  could  not  die.4  They  had  failed  to 
get  the  meaning  of  the  most  significant 
passages  of  their  ancient  Bible,  and  had 
hence  no  true  knowledge  of  him,  or  of 
his  mission,  and  had  to  be  instructed  and 
corrected,  again  and  again,  at  every  vital 
point.  Of  a  suffering  Messiah,  despite 
the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  they 
seem  to  have  had  no  knowledge  what- 
ever. And  thus  their  view  of  him  only 
serves  to  teach  us  what  he  was  not,  except 
as  it  serves  to  render  plainer  some  of  his 
own  expressions. 

John  the  Baptist 

There  was  one  man  in  Israel  who  knew 
3  Acts  i.  6. 
<Jn.  xii.  34. 
B 


1 8  His  Own  Mission 

what  the  others  did  not.  This  was  John, 
the  child  born  of  prophecy  and  miracle, 
who  was  trained  for  his  work  in  the  des- 
ert, and  came  "  preaching  the  baptism  of 
repentance  unto  the  remission  of  sins."5 
He  shared  the  Messianic  hopes  of  his 
people,  but  knew  himself  to  stand  in  a 
special  relation  to  the  Messiah.  He  was 
the  Voice  sent  to  make  ready  for  the 
coming  of  the  expected  one.6  As  the 
Evangelist  John  expresses  it,  he  was  sent 
"  for  witness,  that  he  might  bear  witness 
of  the  light,  that  all  might  believe  through 
him."7  And  he  knew  the  holy  sign, 
the  descending  Spirit,  by  which  the 
Messiah  was  both  to  be  declared  and 
empowered.8 

John,  too,  recognized  the  kingship  of 
the  Messiah,  and  proclaimed  the  near  ap- 

s  Mk.  i.  4. 

6  Jn.   i.    23.      Comp.   Matt.   iii.   3 ;   Mk.   i.   3 ; 
Lk.  i.  17. 

»  Jn.  i.  7.     Comp.  vs.  31. 


Jn-  i-  33- 


The  Preparation  19 

proach  of  the  kingdom.9  But  his  idea 
of  the  kingdom  was  a  spiritual  idea,  for 
its  founding  was  to  be  the  chief  work  of 
that  greater  one  who  should  come  after 
him  and  should  "  baptize  in  the  Spirit."  IO 
This  view  at  once  shattered  the  hopes  of 
earthly  brilliancy  which  the  Jews  at  large 
entertained  for  the  kingdom  of  the  Mes- 
siah. Such  a  spiritual  mission,  among 
a  people  sunk  so  low  in  vice  as  Israel 
was,"  must  be  attended  with  judgment,12 
which  should  have  eternal  consequences. 
Thus  the  Messiah  was  elevated  to  the 
rank  of  a  divine  personage,  for  only  God 
can  pronounce  eternal  judgment.  John's 
Messiah  was,  therefore,  a  King,  and  an 
eternal  King,  but  he  was  more. 

The  Lamb  of  God 
He  was  more  ;  for  he  was  the  suffering 

9  Matt.  iii.  2. 

IOMatt.  iii.  11. 

11  Lk.  iii.  7,  etc. 

"Lk.  iii.  17  ;   Matt.  iii.  12. 


20  His  Own  Mission 

Redeemer.  When  Jesus  came  to  be 
baptized  of  John  in  Jordan,  he  was 
pointed  out  by  John  to  those  who  stood 
about  as  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh 
away  the  sin  of  the  world."  I3 

The  meaning  of  this  slight  and  brief 
reference  to  the  work  of  Jesus  might 
well  be  regarded  as  too  uncertain  to  af- 
ford the  basis  for  any  doctrine  of  religion 
but  for  the  place  and  circumstances  in 
which  it  stands.  These  are  its  environ- 
ment, and  determine  its  meaning.  That 
word  "lamb  "  had  as  definite  a  reference 
to  the  ear  of  a  Jew  trained  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  "light"  has  to  the  student  of 
the  Apostle  John.  In  one  place  in  the 
Old  Testament  only  is  the  sacrificial  vic- 
tim called  a  "lamb,"  and  that  is  in  the 
great  chapter  of  Isaiah  upon  the  Servant  of 
Jehovah.14  Of  him  it  is  said  that  he  was 
"as  a  lamb  that  is  led  to  the  slaughter." 
The  Old  Testament   here    reaches   the 

13  Jn.i.  29,  36. 

14  Is.  liii.  7. 


The  Preparation  21 

summit  of  its  doctrine  of  the  Messiah. 
The  way  of  the  crown  becomes  here  the 
way  of  the  cross.  It  is  with  this  picture 
that  the  Baptist  identifies  Jesus,  and  he 
thereby  teaches  that  Jesus'  work  culmi- 
nated in  his  sacrifice,  by  which  he  was 
"wounded  for  our  transgressions,"  and 
Jehovah  "  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of  us 
all."  IS  If  to  some,  as  generally  it  has  to 
the  Jews  both  ancient  and  modern,  that 
prophecy  has  seemed  to  refer  to  the  per- 
sonified people  of  Israel,  John  understood 
it  of  an  individual  person,  and  that  per- 
son was  Jesus. 

This  distinct  interpretation,  given  by 
his  acknowledged  forerunner,16  forms  a 
large  element  of  the  environment  of 
Jesus'  teaching  as  to  himself.  He  was 
thus  introduced  to  his  own  disciples,'7 
and  to  the  public  who  listened  to  the 

5  Is.  liii.  5,  6. 

16  Matt.  xi.  14. 

17  Jn.  i-  35*  36- 


22  His  Own  Mission 

Baptist.'8  As  they  reflected  on  John  and 
his  connection  with  Jesus,  these  remark- 
able words  must  have  largely  influenced 
their  understanding  of  what  Jesus  said. 
And  it  is  not  strange  that,  years  after, 
when  John  came  to  write  his  gospel,  he 
put  this  text  at  the  beginning,  as  a  kind 
of  motto  for  all  the  christological  teach- 
ing of  his  story.  And  in  this  environ- 
ment, it  is  his  distinct  purpose  that  Jesus' 
first  recorded  utterance  as  to  himself,19 
— "  the  Son  of  Man  must  be  lifted  up  " — 
otherwise  enigmatical,  shall  stand  and 
find  interpretation. 

Saviour  from  Sin 

There  was  still  another  element  in  the 
environment  in  which  Jesus'  teaching 
was  set,  a  little  group  of  men  and  women 
in  the  midst  of  the  Jewish  public  who 
had  all  been  the  recipients  of  special  rev- 

18  Jn.  i.  29. 
">Jn.  iii.  14. 


The  Preparation  23 

elation  in  regard  to  Jesus, — Joseph  and 
Mary,  Elizabeth  and  Zacchaeus,  Simeon 
and  Anna.  To  them  Jesus  was  no  mere 
child  of  ordinary  birth,  but  "  conceived 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."20  His  name  was 
no  ordinary  name,  given  by  caprice  or 
prescribed  by  family  tradition,  but  be- 
stowed by  an  angel2'  expressly  to  desig- 
nate his  mission  as  the  Saviour  of  his 
people  "from  their  sins."  They  ex- 
pected for  him  a  most  glorious  career  as 
King,22  but  waited  humbly  for  the  reve- 
lation of  fact  as  to  its  nature  and  course.23 
With  many  a  misunderstanding  of  de- 
tail,24 this  little  group  looked  confidently 
for  salvation  by  the  Son  of  divine  mercy, 
and  when  John  called  him  Lamb  of  God, 
that  became  the  more  definite  expression 

20  Lk.  i.  35. 
2r  Matt.  i.  21. 
"Lk.  ii.  34,  38. 
2*  Lk.  ii.  19. 
2*  Matt.  xii.  46, 


24  His  Own  Mission 

of  their  hope.25  The  work  of  Jesus 
found  its  true  meaning  to  them  in  salva- 
tion. 

25  This  is  implied  in  the  use  of  Is.  liii.  made  in 
Matt.  viii.  17.  This  chapter  had  come  to  be  cur- 
rently applied  to  Jesus. 


CHAPTER  III 

Summaries  of  His  Mission  by  Jesus 
Himself 

71  >^OST  men  do  not  know  what 
/  fj^  they  are  in  the  world  for.  They 
find  their  work  with  difficulty 
and  pursue  it  with  doubt.  They  are  sat- 
isfied with  having  an  occupation.  It  is 
only  by  an  act  of  faith,  of  which  few  are 
capable,  that  their  lives  assume  to  them 
the  character  of  a  mission,  and  they  feel 
that  they  are  sent  by  God  himself  to  do 
what  they  do  do. 

In  this  doubt  and  perplexity  Jesus  had 
no  share.     As  a  child  of  twelve  he  knew 

25 


26  His  Own  Mission 

what  was  "his  Father's  business."1  In 
any  deep-going  discussion  of  his  life,  such 
words  as  these,  which  mark  him  out  as 
above  the  ordinary  consciousness  and  lot 
of  men,  must  be  placed  at  the  begin- 
ning,— such  words,  repeated  many  times 
in  various  form,  as  these  : 

"  I  came  forth  and  am  come  from 
God ;  for  neither  have  I  come  of  my- 
self, but  he  sent  me."  2 

He  was,  first  of  all,  sent. 

His  Mission  learned  from  his  Deeds 

We  might  employ  either  of  two  ways 
to  discover  what  Jesus'  mission  was,  for 
we  might  look  at  what  he  did,  or  at  what 
he  said  about  it  himself.  If  we  pursued 
the  former  course,  we  should  follow  the 
main  events  of  his  life  as  related  in  the 
gospels.  We  should  find  him  an  obscure 
youth  in  a  provincial  village,  little  unlike 
other  youths,  but  still  giving  his  mother 

1  Lk.  ii.  49. 

2  Jn.  viii.  42. 


Summaries  by  Jesus  Himself  27 

cause  to  "  ponder  things  in  her  heart."3 
At  about  the  age  of  thirty  years,  he 
emerges  from  his  obscurity,  and  engages 
in  various  labors.  He  becomes  at  once  a 
teacher,  whose  subject  matter  is  the  truth 
about  God  and  men.  Patiently  and  un- 
weariedly,  in  the  midst  of  all  sorts  of  ob- 
stacles and  rebuffs,  he  continues  to  in- 
struct a  people  that  prove  themselves 
slow  of  ears  and  still  slower  of  heart.  In 
his  solitary  chamber,  sitting  on  Jacob's 
well,  by  the  wayside,  in  the  markets  and 
synagogues,  in  private  houses  and  in  the 
Temple  itself,  he  proclaims  everywhere 
the  gospel  of  the  kingdom,  and  calls  men 
to  God. 

But,  as  he  teaches,  he  finds  other  work 
waiting  for  him.  The  ignorance  and  sin 
of  men  have  called  for  instruction.  But 
there  are  other  needs  of  men.  He  finds 
them  miserable,  suffering,  and  in  want. 
These  needs  appeal  to  him,  for  they 
spring  from  that  great  fundamental,  spirit- 

3  Lk.  ii.  19. 


28  His  Own  Mission 

ual  need  and  illustrate  it.  He  heals  the 
sick,  cleanses  the  lepers,  casts  out  devils, 
feeds  the  multitudes,  rescues  his  endan- 
gered disciples.  One  kind  of  work  is  as 
natural  to  him  as  the  other.  Both  are 
called  out  by  the  immediate  need.  He 
assumes  also  the  role  of  Messiah,  whom 
the  Jews  had  long  expected.  He  comes 
to  set  up  a  kingdom,  but  it  is  a  kingdom 
of  the  truth.  Membership  in  it  means  the 
assumption  of  a  new  spiritual  relation,  for 
he  refuses  to  be  made  king  of  the  multi- 
tudes when  they  come  to  set  up  an  earthly 
sovereignty.  When  men  repent  and 
exercise  faith  in  him,  he  pronounces  for- 
giveness of  their  sins.  He  creates  in  his 
followers  a  new  spiritual  life,  which  he 
designates  as  eternal.  Thus  his  days  pass 
in  the  humble  but  fundamental  work  of 
enlightening  men's  minds,  doing  them 
practical  good,  awakening  their  spiritual 
activities,  and  conferring  on  them  spirit- 
ual gifts. 

Gradually  about  this  peaceful  work  and 


Summaries  by  Jesus  Himself  29 

over  the  scene  of  so  much  goodness  and 
helpfulness  there  spreads  a  dark  shadow. 
To  do  good  to  the  suffering  is  often  to 
oppose  and  transgress  the  legal  observ- 
ances of  a  formal  Judaism.  Hatred  be- 
gins to  rise  against  him  as  a  reformer  and 
a  revolutionist.  Jesus  begins  to  speak  of 
a  violent  death  as  the  end  of  his  career. 
But  he  moves  composedly  on,  makes  no 
change  in  his  methods,  comes  at  last  to 
the  fatal  hour,  delivers  himself  into  the 
hands  of  the  awestruck  mob  who  have 
come  out  against  him  but  cannot  execute 
their  purpose,  and  on  the  cross  surrenders 
his  life  by  his  own  act.  And  then  he 
emerges  from  the  tomb  to  commission 
his  disciples  for  a  world  wide  work,  and 
to  ascend  to  heaven.  He  has  added  death 
and  resurrection  to  the  rest.  In  these 
main  things  is  comprised  what  he  did. 

Jesus'  Mission  expressed  by  Himself 

But  Jesus  has  himself  told  us  what  his 
mission  in  the  world  was.     He  has  not 


30  His  Own  Mission 

expressed  it  in  a  single  verse  of  the  New 
Testament,  but  at  several  different  times, 
under  different  circumstances,  he  told 
why  he  had  come.  None  of  these  ex- 
pressions is  a  complete  expression  of  his 
full  mission ;  but,  taken  together,  the 
principal  of  them  contain  all  that  he  said, 
and,  we  may  presume,  all  there  was  to 
say.  Seven  of  them  may  be  selected,  as 
embracing  all  the  rest  and  briefly  con- 
taining all  his  teaching  as  to  his  work. 
They  follow  here,  without  explanation, 
in  the  order  of  their  logical  relations. 
The  remainder  of  this  volume  will  be 
taken  up  with  their  careful  discussion  in 
order.     They  are  these  : 

i .  "  The  Son  of  Man  came  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost."     Lk.  xix.  10. 

1.  "  The  works  which  the  Father  hath 
given  me  to  accomplish."     Jn.  v.  36. 

3.  "  I  am  come  a  light  into  the  World,  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  me  may  not  abide  in 
the  darkness."     Jn.  xii.  46. 


Summaries  by  Jesus  Himself  31 

4.  "  /  am  come  to  call  sinners  to  repent- 
ance."    "  Lk.  v.  32. 

5.  "/  came  that  they  may  have  life." 
Jn.  x.  10. 

6.  "  The  Son  of  Man  came  to  minister  and 
to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many."  Matt. 
xx.  28. 

7.  "  For  judgment  came  I  into  this  World." 
Jn.  ix.  39. 

Let  us  now  study  these  expressions, 
one  after  another. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  Lost  World  and  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven 

"  The  Son  of  Man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that 
which  was  lost."     Lk.  xix.  10. 

rHIS  saying  of  Jesus  was  uttered 
on  a  special  occasion  and  in  refer- 
ence to  a  single  man,  lost  to  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel  as  well  as  to  God, 
Zacchaeus.  But  here,  as  in  so  many 
cases,  the  individual  case  led  to  the  utter- 
ance of  the  larger  underlying  truth.  He 
expressed  here  what  the  world  was — lost ; 
and  hence  what  he  came  for, — to  seek 
and  save  the  lost.  Here  is  a  whole  theory 
32 


The  Lost  World  33 

of  the  world,  and  a  whole  theory  of  sal- 
vation involved. 

Lost !  What  this  word  meant  to  a  Jew 
will  be  understood  when  we  think  of  the 
source  from  which  it  is  taken.  The  New 
Testament  is  full  of  the  language  of  the 
Old,  and  its  thought  vibrates  with  the 
thought  of  the  Old.  The  word  "lost" 
is  one  example  of  this  among  many  others. 
Jehovah  was  the  "  shepherd  "'of  Israel, 
who  "restored  the  soul."  And  Jesus 
was  the  "  good  shepherd."  2  He  looked 
upon  the  people  to  whom  he  came  as  a 
shepherd  would,  and  he  found  them  stray- 
ing from  the  fold,  "lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."3  In  the  tenderness  of 
his  loving  heart,  his  first  and  predominant 
feeling  was  that  of  pity.  He  had  "  com- 
passion for  them  because  they  were  dis- 
tressed and  scattered,  as  sheep  not  having 

1  Ps.  xxiii.  1. 
2Jn.  x.  11. 
3  Matt.  x.  6. 
C 


34  His  Own  Mission 

a  shepherd."4  This  note  of  tender  re- 
gret over  sin  never  dies  completely  away 
in  the  New  Testament.  Sin  is  itself  gen- 
erally designated  by  a  word s  which  orig- 
inally means  a  "missing  of  the  mark." 
In  the  text  set  at  the  head  of  this  chapter, 
it  was  because  Zacchaeus  had  separated 
himself  from  his  people  and  gone  into 
the  ways  of  the  Gentiles,  whose  business 
he  was  doing  as  a  Roman  tax  gatherer, 
that  he  was  called  "lost."  Astray,  lost 
from  the  way  of  safety  and  protection, 
deprived  of  pasture  and  in  danger  of 
wild  beasts,  ignorant,  foolish,  silly, — the 
lost  sheep  was  sought  by  the  shepherd 
with  painful  solicitude  till  it  was  found.6 
Like  such  sheep,  men  are  "lost." 

But  this  was  not  all  the  meaning  of  the 
word.  Sin  was  found  everywhere,  and 
it  was  no  mere  negative  failure  to  find 
and  do  the  good.     It  was  a  positive  hos- 

4  Matt.  ix.  36.     Comp.  Ezek.  xxxiv.  5. 

5  a/jmpTia. 

6  Ps.  xxiii.  3.     Lk.  xv.  4. 


The  Lost  World  35 

tility  to  the  known  good.     Sin  takes  on 
a  deeper  meaning  as  the  gospels  describe 
sinners.     The  "  heart  "  7  is  wrong.    The 
world   is   filled   with  violence  and  evil. 
Men  obey  their   own   lusts  and   forget 
the  law  of  God.     They  even  distort  and 
pervert  the  law  itself.8      Where  special 
sanctity  might  be  expected,  among  the 
chosen    leaders    of    the    people,    there 
wickedness  reaches   its   height.9     Com- 
passion yields  to  righteous  anger  when 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  are  mentioned, 
men  who  had  opportunity  to  know  their 
duty  and  to  do  it,  but  who  chose  the 
evil.      But  anger   yields   to   compassion 
when    the    young    man    comes    asking 
what  he  shall  do  to  inherit  eternal  life, 
and  in  frank  simplicity  declares  that  he 
has  kept  the   commandments  from  his 
youth.     "  Looking   upon    him "    in   his 
young   eagerness  for  something  greater 
7]VIk.  vii.  21. 

8  Matt.  xv.  6. 

9  Matt.  chap,  xxiii. 


36  His  Own  Mission 

and  purer  than  he  had,  Jesus  "loved 
him."'10  But  he  put  the  probing  test, 
"  Go,  sell  whatsoever  thou  hast ;  "  and  he 
closed  that  story  when  he  said,  "  How 
hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  !  "  The  young 
man  "  saw  and  approved  the  better,  but 
followed  the  worse."  He  "missed," 
but  he  did  not  want  now  to  avoid  the 
missing.  He  was  "lost"  in  a  deeper 
sense  than  that. 

These  are  the  forms  in  which  the  first 
three  gospels  present  the  matter  after 
their  practical  and  concrete  fashion. 
But  the  picture  of  the  world  which  we 
find  when  we  pass  to  the  more  reflective 
and  philosophical  fourth  gospel,  is  not 
essentially  different.  The  "world"  is 
now  viewed  in  the  mass.  It  has  a  like 
character  and  destiny.  God  loves  it, 
and  gives  his  Son  that  it  may  not  perish 
but  have  life — be  saved — through  him." 

IOMk.  x.  21. 

"  Jn.  iii.  16. 


The  Lost  JVorld  37 

The  world  is  "lost,"  therefore,  because 
it  is  not  "  saved."  "  Men  love  darkness 
rather  than  light  because  their  works  are 
evil ;  "  ,2  and  they  are  already  in  a  state  of 
judgment  (condemnation),'3  out  of  which 
they  can  come,  if  they  will  believe,  but  in 
which  remaining,  as  they  will  do  if  they 
do  not  exercise  themselves  to  escape,  they 
have  the  "  wrath  of  God  abiding  on 
them."  I4  Darkness,  sin,  judgment,  death 
— the  most  terrible  words  in  the  Bible 
— these  are  the  words  which  describe  the 
world  as  it  is  before  Jesus  brings  his  sal- 
vation into  it.  And  more  !  This  world 
is  under  a  Prince  of  its  own,15  against 
whom  Jesus  was  set  in  opposition,16  and 
whom  he  "judged,"17  who  was  the 
"  Father  "  of  the  wicked  Jews,  and  was 

12  Jn.  iii.  19. 
■*  Jn.  iii.  18. 

14  Jn.  iii.  36. 

15  Jn.  xii.    31. 

16  Jn.  xiv.  30. 

17  Jn.  xii.  31. 


38  His  Own  Mission 

the  Devil.'8  Thus  it  is  in  itself  a  king- 
dom of  evil  organized  against  the  king- 
dom of  God,  fortified  and  established  in 
itself.  The  apostle  who  wrote  the  gos- 
pel, expressing  in  his  own  language  the 
thought  he  had  derived  from  his  Master, 
said,  "  The  whole  world  lieth  in  the  evil 
one"  [A.  V.  "in  wickedness."]19  It 
was  not  strange  that  such  a  world  "re- 
ceived him  not. "  2° 

Thus  the  world  is  now  estranged  from 
God  and  dominated  by  evil.  Now ! 
But  it  has  a  future  to  which  the  word 
"lost  "is  also  applied.  In  comparison 
with  the  fate  of  lost  men  in  the  world  to 
come,  the  evils  of  this  world  were  noth- 
ing. Men  were  not  to  be  "  afraid  of 
them  that  kill  the  body,"  but  it  was  wis- 
dom to  "  fear  him  who  is  able  to  destroy 
both  soul  and  body  in  hell."21     This  is 

18  Jn.  viii.  41,44. 
'9  i  Jn.  v.  19. 

20  Jn.  i.  11. 

21  Matt.  x.  28. 


The  Lost  JVorld  39 

the  place  of  "  fire  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels,"22  an  "  eternal  fire,"23 
"unquenchable,"24  and  "where  their 
worm  dieth  not,"25  and  anguish  is  their 
lot.26  As  the  Fourth  Gospel  prefers  to 
phrase  it,  it  is  the  realm  of  "  death,"  2?  in 
which  a  man  is  till  he  believes  in  God, 
and  in  which  he  remains,  if  he  fails  to 
exercise  this  faith. 2S  "  Eternal  life  "  is 
the  knowledge  of  God,29  and  eternal 
death  is  that  state  of  final  estrangement 
from  God  which  is  the  highest  misery  of 
the  soul,  for  which  any  expressions  of 
pain  and  loss  are  but  the  feeble  sugges- 
tions of  what  is,  after  all,  beyond  human 
conception. 

22  Matt.  xxv.  41. 

23  Comp.  Matt,  xviii.  8. 

24  Mk.  ix.  43,  48. 
2s  Ibid.  vs.  48. 

26  Matt.  viii.  12. 

27  Jn.  v.  24. 

28  Comp.  1  Jn.  iii.  14. 

29  Jn.  xvii.  3. 


40  His  Own  Mission 

The  modern  church  tends  to  empha- 
size the  present  life  and  to  neglect  the  fu- 
ture. The  mediaeval  magnified  the  future 
and  despised  the  present.  But  Jesus, 
while  placing  the  eternal  life  above  the 
fleeting  period  of  human  existence,  and 
the  spiritual  interests  far  above  the  ma- 
terial, never  failed  to  insist  on  the  unity 
of  both  lives  and  the  importance  of  daily 
doing  our  duty  in  our  present  estate. 
"  Life,"  whether  now  or  bye-and-bye, 
the  knowledge  and  the  love  of  God,  is 
the  great  thing ;  and,  once  gained,  it  is 
eternal  in  consequence  of  its  essential 
nature. 

This  lost  world — lost  now  and  lost  for- 
ever— constituted  the  object  of  Jesus' 
coming.  He  came  to  save  it.3°  He 
came  preaching  the  "  kingdom  of 
heaven  "  3I  as  John  had  before  him  ;  and 
what  he  sought  to  do  was  to  put  the  one 
in  the  place  of  the  other, — to  make  the 

30  Jn.  iii.  17. 

31  Matt.  iv.  17 


The  Kingdom  of  Heaven      41 

lost  world  into  a  saved  world,  to  replace 
the  kingdom  of  the  "  Prince  of  the 
Power  of  the  Air  " 32  by  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

The  Kingdom  of  Heaven 

Jesus  came,  therefore,  preaching  the 
near  approach 33  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  It  was  no  new  term  to  Jewish 
ears.  The  Old  Testament  is  full  of  the 
idea  that  God  is  King.  The  ancient  gov- 
ernment of  Israel  before  the  days  of  Saul, 
the  first  human  king,  had  been  a  govern- 
ment which  professed  to  be  nothing  but 
the  means  by  which  the  authority  of  God 
was  exercised.34  When  the  ideal  should 
be  restored,  the  ancient  kingdom  of  God 
would  be  set  up  again,  and  its  king  would 
be  the  Anointed  One,  the  Messiah, 
whom  God  would  "  set  upon  his  holy 
hill  of  Zion."  3S     Jesus  never  professes  to 

32  Eph.  ii.  2.      Comp.  2  Cor.  iv.  4. 

33  Matt.  iv.  17. 

34  1  Sam.  viii.  7. 
3*  Ps.  ii.  6 


42  His  Own  Mission 

improve  on  the  Old  Testament  ideal  of 
this  kingdom.  He  did  not  share  the 
misunderstandings  common  among  the 
people.  He  was  thus  led  to  teach  various 
things  about  the  kingdom  by  way  of  cor- 
recting them  at  different  points.  But 
this  kingdom  was  always  the  ancient  idea 
of  the  prophets,  cleared  of  the  errors  of 
later  ages.  When  he  proclaimed  it,  this 
was  itself  a  claim  to  be  the  expected 
Messiah,  and  it  was  so  understood.36  In 
fact,  the  only  new  thing  about  Jesus' 
preaching  of  the  kingdom  was  the  an- 
nouncement that  it  was  "  at  hand." 

It  will  be  of  advantage,  however,  to 
trace  the  idea  of  the  kingdom  in  Jesus' 
own  words,  independently  of  all  its  con- 
nection with  the  prophecies  and  intima- 
tions of  the  past. 

Its  name  points  out  its  character  and 
object.  It  is  the  kingdom  "  of  heaven  " 
because  its  speaks  of  heaven,  would  make 
earth  a  heaven,  and  brings  the  divine,  the 

36Acts  i.  6. 


The  Kingdom  of  Heaven      43 

heavenly  forces  down  into  this  world  to 
save  it.  It  would  produce  such  a  state 
of  things  that  the  will  of  God  may  be 
"  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven." " 
Again,  it  is  the  kingdom  "  of  God " 3S 
because  he  creates  it  by  the  sending  of 
his  Son.39  Christ  is  its  king.40  It  has  no 
outward  pomp  and  circumstance,41  since 
it  is  not  "  of  this  world."  42  Its  members 
are  distinguished  by  the  possession  of  a 
certain  spirit,  which  manifests  itself  in 
forms  greatly  unlike  those  assumed  by 
the  world,  humility,  meekness,  mercy, 
purity, — which  do  not  fit  in  with  the 
order  of  things  in  this  world  very  well,  and 
lead  to  "  persecution,"  which,  however,  is 
a  source  of  blessing  ! 43     In  this  present 

37  Matt.  vi.  10. 

38  e.  g.  in  Jn.  iii.  3. 

39  Ibid.  13,  17. 

40  Matt,  xxvii.  11. 

41  Jn.  xviii.  37  ;  Lk.  xvii.  20. 

42  Jn.  xviii.  36. 

43  Matt.  v.  3-12.     Cf.  Lk.  xviii.  17. 


44  His  Own  Mission 

age  of  the  world  the  kingdom  is  only 
"  coming,"  for  it  is  here  only  imperfectly 
realized,44  and  its  king  is  to  depart  into 
"  another  country  ;  " 4S  but  he  will  come 
again,  and  then  the  kingdom  shall  be  es- 
tablished in  its  glory.46  Then  shall  be  in- 
troduced the  perfect  reign  of  love. 

To  save  the  lost  world,  then,  Jesus  be- 
gan the  work  of  introducing  the  king- 
dom of  God.  He  gathered  about  him- 
self a  little  group  of  men  to  whom  he 
taught  constantly  these  principles  of  the 
kingdom.  They  were  the  "  disciples," 
or  the  "  twelve."  They  received  his 
message  very  slowly  and  with  many  mis- 
understandings. They  clung  to  the  com- 
mon Jewish  idea  of  an  external  kingdom 
to  the  very  hour  of  the  ascension.  But 
they  were,  nevertheless,  in  some  measure 
the  embodied  kingdom.  They  surren- 
dered themselves  wholly  to  the  service 

44  Matt.  xiii.  24  ff. 

45  Matt.  xxv.  14. 

46  Matt.  xxv.  3 1  ff. 


The  Kingdom  of  Heaven      45 

of  God  by  following  his  messenger.    The 
spirit  of  divine  love,  of  meekness,  of  loy- 
alty, and  of    peace    came    upon    them. 
When  they  were  thus  called  out  of  the 
sinful  world,  the  work  of  saving  the  world 
was   already    begun.     Some    had    been 
saved.     In  this  fact  was  the  promise  of 
the  salvation  of    "many."     And    when 
his  teaching  was  fully  completed,  when 
they  had  seen  him  die,  rise  again,  and  as- 
cend to  the  Father,  when  the  facts  upon 
which  their  faith  was  founded  and  was 
to  be  engaged  were  all  before  them,  and 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  interpreter  of  truth, 
could  now  explain  to  them  the  meaning 
of  all,  then  they  began  to  present  in  a 
fuller  and  a  more  winning  manner,  by 
actual  exemplification,   what  the  King- 
dom was.     But  meantime  there  was  else- 
where an  exemplification. 

Christ  Himself  the  Kingdom 

One  aspect  of  this  kingdom  is  little 
dwelt  upon  in  the  New  Testament,  but 


46  His  Own  Mission 

it  is  no  less  important  for  that.  It  is  pre- 
sented to  us  by  the  simple  facts,  narrated 
in  the  gospels  but  not  explained  or  en- 
larged upon.  Jesus  did  not  come  to  lay 
the  first  foundation  of  the  kingdom. 
That  had  been  done  when  Abraham  was 
called  out  of  Haran.  He  came  to  estab- 
lish it  in  a  larger  and  more  perfect  way, 
to  introduce  those  new  forces  which  were 
to  give  it  a  greater  universality  and  per- 
fection, and  to  furnish  it  in  his  own  per- 
son with  a  perfect  exemplification  of 
what  it  was  to  be.  What  was  a  life  dom- 
inated by  perfect  love,  and  flowing  on  in 
perfect  communion  with  God  ?  The 
life  of  Jesus  answered  the  question.  He 
was  fully  a  member  of  the  kingdom  in 
its  purest  form  and  under  its  loftiest  ideal. 
He  illustrated  it.  He  was  for  a  time  the 
whole  existing  kingdom,  both  king  and  sub- 
jects, standard  of  its  life  and  sole  embodi- 
ment of  that  standard.  This  was  the  first 
great  department  of  his  works  as  Saviour. 
He  came  to  save  this  lost  world.     He 


The  Kingdom  of  Heaven      47 

did  it  in  the  first  instance  by  himself  com- 
ing as  a  man,  as  one  man  who  was  already 
in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  already  exer- 
cising perfect  love  and  having  perfect  fel- 
lowship 47  with  the  Father,  as  the  pattern 
of  what  all  saved  men  were  to  be,  the 
pledge  and  earnest  of  the  coming  salva- 
tion for  all  the  rest.  We  do  not  need  to 
resort  to  mysticism  and  mere  figure  to 
say  that  the  world  with  Jesus  in  it  was  a 
saved  world.  It  was  saved  because  sal- 
vation had  begun  in  it ;  because  in  one 
person  it  was  already  fully  realized;  be- 
cause the  powers  of  salvation  were  already 
at  work  in  it,  and  men  were  already  be- 
ing drawn  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
J esus  preached  the  kingdom.  More,  he 
was  the  kingdom. 
47  Jn.  x.  30. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Salvation  of  Healing 

"  The  Father  hath  given  me  works  to  accomplish." 
Jn.  v.  36. 

rHE  prominence  of  Jesus'  works 
of  healing  in  the  gospel  story 
was  forcibly  brought  to  our 
attention  in  the  review  of  his  "  deeds  " 
which  was  taken  in  Chapter  III.  It  is 
the  more  remarkable  that  he  says  so  little 
about  them  as  he  does  himself.  In  the 
Gospel  of  John,  as  we  shall  see,  they  are 
often  spoken  of,  but  in  one  accessory 
aspect  only,  for  the  most  part.  In  the 
other  three  gospels,  they  are  generally 
48 


The  Salvation  of  Healing     49 

left  to  tell  their  own  story.  The  evan- 
gelists, when  speaking  in  their  own  per- 
sons, are  less  reticent.  Matthew  reckons 
them  among  the  essential  labors  which 
Jesus  came  to  perforin,  and  applies  to 
them  a  portion  of  Isaiah's  great  chapter, 
"  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bare 
our  diseases."  '  By  implication,  at  least, 
Jesus  made  them  a  distinct  part  of  his 
official  work,  when  at  Nazareth  he  ap- 
plied to  himself  that  other  great  passage 
from  Isaiah,  "  He  hath  sent  me  to  pro- 
claim release  to  the  captives,  and  recover- 
ing of  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  are  bruised. ' ' 2  This  prevailing 
silence  he  broke,  however,  in  the  dis- 
course occasioned  by  the  miracle  of 
healing  at  Bethesda,  after  having  joined 
this  work  of  his  with  the  eternal  work  of 
God, — "  My  Father  worketh  even  until 
now,  and   I  work."3     He   appealed   to 

1  Matt.  viii.  17, 

2  Lie.  iv.  18. 

3  Jn.  v.  17. 

D 


50  His  Own  Mission 

this  and  like  works  as  the  great  witness 
which  he  had,  greater  than  that  of  John 
who  was  the  commissioned  witness  come 
from  God.4  He  does  not  say,  however, 
that  the  works  were  given  him  as  a  wit- 
ness. Being  given,  they  serve  as  witness. 
But  they  were  "  given  him  to  accomplish" 
evidently  because  worthy  of  doing  in 
themselves,  "  given  "  him,  and  hence  an 
essential  element  in  his  mission. 

The  Motive  of  the  Miracles 

This  is  nowhere  expressly  declared  in 
the  New  Testament ;  but  it  is,  after  all, 
not  difficult  to  find  it.  Follow  Jesus 
about  any  day,  as  he  goes  up  and  down 
the  land,  see  him  by  the  sea,  in  the  streets 
of  the  villages,  journeying  from  town  to 
town,  coming  into  the  synagogues  and 
into  the  temples,  and  a  sympathetic  eye 
has  no  difficulty  in  discovering  why  he 
did  what  he  did.     His   "  beginning   of 

«  Jn.  i.  6. 


The  Salvation  of  Healing      51 

miracles,"  done  at  Cana,  was  performed 
at  a  wedding.  A  needful  provision  for 
the  harmless  festivity  had  failed,  and 
friendly  kindness  led  to  its  supply  by  him 
who  had  the  power.5  And  then  Jesus 
"went  about  in  all  Galilee,"6  "teach- 
ing," "preaching  the  good  tidings  of 
the  kingdom,"  and  "healing."  The 
kingdom  and  healing  naturally  went  to- 
gether. That  kingdom  was  to  be  the 
place  where  there  should  be  no  sin.  How 
could  sickness  and  suffering  maintain 
their  reign  in  such  a  kingdom  ?  And 
how  could  one  who  came  to  banish  the 
evil,  greater  in  reality  though  often 
thought  the  less,  fail  to  relieve  that  which 
was  the  less,  when  it  seemed  to  men's 
feeble  moral  apprehension  so  much 
greater  ?  He  healed  the  leper  who  came 
falling  down  before  him/  because  it  was 
natural,  infinitely  natural  to  such  a  one,  to 

5  Jn.  chap.  ii. 

6  Matt.  iv.  23. 

7  Matt.  viii.  2. 


52  His  Own  Mission 

answer  the  piteous  supplication  of  a  wast- 
ing and  dying  man.  When  the  multi- 
tude thronged  him,8  as  they  continually 
did,  what  else  could  he  do,  in  the  midst 
of  this  misery,  accumulated  and  heaped 
up,  but  heal,  if  indeed  he  had  compas- 
sionate love  for  men  ?  If  he  had  not  had 
the  love,  he  could  not  have  been  the 
Messiah.  If  he  loved,  he  must  heal. 
And,  on  the  other  hand,  no  one  but  the 
Messiah  could  manifest  the  full  mastery 
over  all  misery  which  he  exercised.9 

We  thus  get  the  impression  that  the 
miracles  are  the  natural  outflow  of  Jesus' 
goodness,  and  a  fulfilling  of  a  part  of  his 
mission.  The  impression  receives  con- 
firmation from  every  examination  of  the 
records.  Sometimes  his  compassion  is 
expressly  referred  to  as  the  reason  for 
the  miracle.  Examples  of  this  are  the 
story  of  the  first  feeding  of  the  multi- 

8  Matt.  iv.  24 ;  Lk.  viii.  42 

9  Matt.  xi.  4-6. 


The  Salvation  of  Healing     53 

tude,'°  and  of  the  second  also  ;  "  and  the 
striking  account  when,  in  his  going  about 
Galilee,  "  he  saw  the  multitudes  "  and 
"  was  moved  with  compassion  for  them, 
because  they  were  distressed."  I2  But  where 
no  mention  is  made  of  our  Lord's  com- 
passion, the  circumstances  of  the  case 
often  make  it  evident.  The  details  of 
the  accounts,  emphasizing,  as  they  do, 
the  misery  and  earnestness  of  the  suf- 
ferers, convey  the  idea.  The  centurion 
come  in  behalf  of  his  son  "  beseeches  " 
Jesus.13  On  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  it  is  the 
danger  of  perishing  and  the  frightened 
cry  of  the  disciples  that  move  him  to  still 
the  waters.'4  The  pictures  given  of  the 
"  possessed,"  their  misery,  senselessness, 
and  physical  sufferings,13  show  what  the 

10  Matt.  xiv.  14  ff. 

11  Matt.  xv.  32. 
"Matt.  ix.  36  ff. 

13  Matt.  viii.  5. 

14  Matt.  viii.  24,  25. 

'S  Matt.  viii.  29.      Comp.  Mk.  v.  15. 


54  His  Own  Mission 

things  were  which  the  bearing  of  Jesus, 
his  glance,  the  expression  of  his  face,  the 
tones  of  his  voice,  impressed  on  his  dis- 
ciples as  producing  the  greatest  effect  on 
his  sensitive  heart.  The  pathetic  cries  of 
the  blind,16  the  fatherly  anguish  of 
Jairus,17  the  brief  vision  of  the  boat  dis- 
tressed in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  all  tell  the 
same  story.  And  when  we  turn  to  the 
Gospel  of  John,  we  find  the  same  things, 
the  same  eagerness  on  the  part  of  the 
nobleman  for  his  son,18  the  same  com- 
passion for  the  "  great "  hungry  multi- 
tude,19 the  same  simplicity20  of  address 
and  act,  the  same  overflowing  human 
sympathy.21 

It  is  true,  there  is  another  element  in 
John.     Our  text  goes  on  :  "  The   very 

16  Matt.  ix.  27.    Comp.  xx.  31  ff.     Mk.  x.  47-9. 
'?"  My  little  daughter,"  Mk.  v.  23. 
18  Jn.  iv.  46-49. 
'9  Jn.  vi.  5. 

20  Jn.  v.  5,  6.     Comp.  vi.  20. 

21  Lazarus'  grave,  Jn.  xi.  33,  35. 


The  Salvation  of  Healing    55 

works  that  I  do  bear  witness  of  me  that 
the  Father  hath  sent  me."  "  Though 
the  works  were  "  given  to  accomplish," 
they  did  serve,  being  given,  for  a  sign. 
This  use,  made  of  them  throughout  the 
gospel,  accords  with  its  confessed  pur- 
pose, which  was  "  that  ye  may  believe 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God."23  Miracles  have  a  proving  value. 
They  are  generally  called  "  signs."  They 
"manifest  Christ's  glory."  They  are  to 
be  believed  when  words  are  disbelieved, 
because  they  are  outward,  tangible,  and 
undeniable.24  But  this  all  belongs  to  the 
writer  of  the  Gospel  in  his  character  as  a 
preacher.  What  he  preaches  is  true : 
the  miracles  were  signs.  But  what  he 
records  in  his  character  as  an  historian  is 
also  true,  the  simplicity  with  which  Jesus 
responded,  out  of  the  fulness  of  his  di- 
vine  power,    to    the    evident     need   of 

22  Jn.  v.  36. 

J  Jn.  xx.  31. 

2*Jn.  x.  38. 


56  His  Own  Mission 

wretched  men.  Coming  to  do  good,  he 
did  this  first,  most  evident,  and  most 
eagerly  demanded  good,  as  an  essential 
element  of  his  work. 

Relation  of  Healing  to  the  Rest  of  Jesus' 
Work 

On  such  a  foundation  Jesus  built  the 
rest  of  his  work.  The  foundation  of  a 
building  is  often  of  a  humble  sort,  com- 
posed of  shapeless  stones  laid  deep  in  the 
earth,  and  buried  out  of  sight.  It  may 
seem  a  small  thing  to  some  that  the  Son 
of  God  should  heal  the  sick,  give  sight 
to  the  blind,  cast  out  devils.  To  some  it 
may  seem  to  be  against  "law."  But  it 
was  Mary  Magdalene,  out  of  whom 
seven  devils  had  been  cast,  who  stood  at 
his  cross  and  came  Sunday  morning  to 
his  tomb  with  her  last  gifts ;  and  it  was 
the  blind  man  who  had  been  healed,  who 
"  believed  "  when  Jesus  revealed  himself 
to  him.  In  that  moral  approach  to  men 
by  which  they  learned  to  "  like  the  friend 


The  Salvation  of  Healing     57 

before  they  loved  the  Saviour,"  the  heal- 
ings formed  an  essential  portion. 

A  Permanent  Portion  ? 

Miracles  of  healing  were  for  a  time 
performed  in  the  church  after  Jesus  had 
ascended.  Jesus  had  commissioned  his 
first  messengers  chosen  from  his  disciples 
to  "heal  the  sick,"25  and  the  Acts  is 
full  of  accounts  of  such  healings.  In  a 
sense  that  activity  of  Jesus  remains  in  the 
church  to-day.  The  miracles  have 
ceased.  But  Jesus  still  produces  moral 
changes  in  men  by  his  varied  ministry, 
direct  and  personal,  or  through  his  min- 
istering disciples ;  and  wherever  that 
saving  moral  change  is  wrought,  a  new 
impulse  of  health  is  given  even  to  the 
body.26  Drunkards  have  lost  their  appe- 
tite for  liquor  ;  every  disease  arising  from 
despondency,  or  other  morbid  mental 
condition,  has  received  a  powerful  check 

2s  Matt.  x.  8. 

26  Ro.  viii.  1 1, 


58  His  Own  Mission 

at  conversion ;  and  thus  purity  of  heart 
has  given,  on  a  very  large  scale,  health 
to  men.  The  coming  of  Jesus  to  men 
still  means  the  healing  of  their  bodies 
from  many  an  ill. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Salvation  of  Knowledge 

"  I  am  come  a  Light  into  the  World,  that  whoso- 
ever believeth  on  me  may  not  abide  in  the  darkness." 
Jn.  xii.  46. 

rHIS  text  is  often  thought  to  mean 
that  Jesus'  mission  in  the  world 
was  to  "enlighten"  men,  or  to 
give  them  knowledge.  Does  not  the 
very  word  "  light ' '  indicate  this  at  once  ? 
Then,  when  we  turn  to  consider  what  he 
did,  and  find  him  spending  his  time  in 
teaching  men,  accepting  the  title  of 
teacher,  and,  indeed,  seeming  to  make 
this  his  chief  business,  the  impression  is 

59 


60  His  Own  Mission 

strengthened.  Knowledge  would  seem 
to  be  relied  on  as  the  saving  element. 
Again,  other  words  are  used  which  in- 
dicate the  same  thing,  as  when  the 
"darkness,"  that  is,  the  sinful  world,  is 
said  not  to  "  apprehend  "  '  the  light,  that 
is,  not  receive  it.  Light  is  used  for 
"life,"2  and  life  itself  is  defined3  as 
knowledge.  And  hence  some  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  summarize  Jesus'  whole  mis- 
sion under  the  word  Teacher. 

What  is  "Knowledge?" 

But  we  must  take  ground  here  cau- 
tiously and  deliberately.  If  light  is  made 
correlative  with  "knowledge,"  and  is  ex- 
plained by  it,  it  will  become  necessary  to 
know  what  "knowledge"  itself  means. 
One  can  scarcely  say  that  John  spoke  a 
technical  language,  for  he  is  no  philo- 
sophical scholar,  but  "  speaks  right  on  ' ' 

1  A.  V.,  "  comprehend." 
2Jn.  i.  4. 
3  Jn.  xvii.  3. 


The  Salvation  of  Knowledge   61 

as  thoughts  come  to  him,  and  in  a  popu- 
lar way.  But  it  is,  nevertheless,  true 
that  his  language  is  peculiar,  that  his 
figures  and  terms  have  a  meaning  of  their 
own,  and  that  this  meaning  is  to  be 
learned  from  the  indications  found  in  his 
own  writings,  and  not  by  any  philosophy, 
ancient  or  modern.  Jesus  was  a  teacher. 
What  did  he  teach  ?  And  what,  when 
he  speaks  of  himself  as  a  "  Light,"  did  he 
mean  ?  We  begin  our  answer  by  consid- 
ering that  text  which  we  have  selected  as 
the  most  distinct  and  comprehensive, 
and  have  therefore  placed  at  the  head  of 
this  chapter. 

"  I  am  come  a  Light  into  the  World," 
says  Jesus,  "  that  whosoever  believeth  on 
me  may  not  abide  in  the  darkness." 
Light  leads  to  believing.  One  may  "  hear 
and  not  keep."  He  then  "remains  in 
darkness."  Light,  then,  is  more  than 
teaching  ;  it  is  teaching  that  is  received. 
If  not  received,  it  does  not  enlighten  any 
man.     It  is,  for  him,  not  even  light. 


62  His  Own  Mission 

This  is  a  somewhat  paradoxical  result. 
But  look  at  the  parallel  passages.  In  Jn.  i. 
4  and  5,  light  is  defined  as  "  life."  Light 
shined  in  the  darkness  ;  but  what  was 
this  light  ?  Life.  Now  "  life  "  in  John 
has  a  very  distinct  and  clear  meaning.  It 
is  that  state  of  moral  union  with  God, 
produced  by  "  faith,"  and  expressing  it- 
self in  conscious  fellowship  with  him, 
which  is  essentially  eternal  in  its  nature, 
and  is  therefore  to  last  forever.  When 
light  comes,  this  comes.  When  it  is  "  ap- 
prehended " 4  or  "  received  "  5  there  comes 
from  it  a  "right,"  viz.,  the  right  to  be- 
come, take  place  and  make  claim  as,  the 
children  of  God,  and  this  because  such 
have  already  been  "  born "  of  God. 
The  coming  of  the  light  is,  therefore, 
the  working  of  a  change  in  men  which 
is  elsewhere  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Spirit.6 
The  coming  of  the  light  is  the  coming 

^  Vs.  5. 

*Vs.   12. 

fcJn.  iii.  5. 


The  Salvation  of  Knowledge  63 

of  a  divine  influence,  proceeding  from 
and  exercised  by  Jesus,  which  transforms 
the  man  and  makes  him  a  child  of  God. 
If  "  teaching,"  then  it  is  a  dynamic  teach- 
ing. 

"  Light"  is  thus  used  in  various  senses 
in  the  Gospel  of  John.  It  is  that  which 
brings  salvation.  Then,  by  a  sudden 
change  of  application,  it  is  no  longer  the 
means  used  to  develop  "life,"  but  it  is 
that  life  itself.  Thus  it  is  the  same  as 
"  salvation,"  the  rescue  from  sin  and  its 
corruption.  It  is  the  opposite  of  sin. 
And  it  is  again  used  as  the  opposite  of 
the  condition  of  the  lost.  It  denotes  the 
ethical  quality  of  the  new  life  as  holiness,7 
but  is  chiefly  used  to  describe  it  as  salva- 
tion from  "  darkness." 

The  Teachings  of  Jesus 
This  dynamic  teaching  of   Jesus  ad- 
dresses the  intellect  in  some  of  its  aspects. 
Hence  Jesus  may  be  said  to  have  come 

7  Comp.  I  Jn.  i.  5  and  7. 


64  His  Own  Mission 

to  give  knowledge  in  the  more  ordinary 
senses  of  that  word.  He  taught,  for 
example,  that  "  God  is  a  Spirit," 8 — which 
conveys  doctrinal  knowledge,  and  states 
a  truth  not  previously  reached  by  any 
religious  teacher.  Yet  even  this  truth 
was  not  taught  for  the  mere  gratification 
of  the  intellect.  Jesus  adds  immediately  : 
"  And  they  that  worship  him  must  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit."  Intellectual  aspects 
his  teachings  have :  in  fact  he  may  be 
said  to  have  stirred  the  human  intellect 
more  than  any  or  all  other  teachers. 
But  intellectual  purposes  give  way  to  the 
moral.     He  teaches  that  he  may  save. 

With  this  thought  clearly  in  mind,  we 
may  note  several  distinct  heads  under 
which  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  the  Light, 
falls. 

1.  The  doctrine  of  God.  "  He  that 
beholdeth  me,  beholdeth  him  that  sent 
me," 9  he  says  ;  and,  "  He  that  hath  seen 

8  Jn.  iv.  24. 

9  Jn.  xii.  45. 


The  Salvation  of  Knowledge  65 

me,  hath  seen  the  Father."10  He  re- 
veals God  by  being  himself.  Now,  this 
revelation  of  God  comes  from  Jesus  only. 
Not  only  is  it  a  fact  that  the  intellectual 
conception  of  God  which  has  sprung 
from  Jesus'  teachings  was  never  known 
before,  nor,  independently  of  him,  since  ; 
but  no  one  ever  presented  God  in  human 
form  as  Jesus  did.11  "No  man  hath 
seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten 
Son     .     .     .     hath  declared  him." I2 

We  thus  see  at  once  the  difference  be- 
tween the  teaching  of  Jesus  and  that  of 
the  prophets,  who  could  only  tell  men 
about  God,  but  never  bring  home  to  the 
vision  and  the  heart  the  being  of  God. 
We  see,  too,  the  difference  between  the 
teaching  of  Jesus  and  of  the  church 
theologians  (Augustine,  Calvin,  etc.), 
who  have  added  to  the  prophet's  office 
the   task   of   forming   a   "doctrine"  of 

10  Jn.  xiv.  9. 

"  Comp.  2  Cor.  iv.  6. 

12  Jn.  i.   1 8. 

E 


) 


66  His  Own  Mission 

God,  viz.,  a  statement  in  logical  form  of 
his  attributes,  and  a  proof  of  his  existence. 
Jesus  brings  men  into  direct  contact  with 
God,  because  they  gain  direct  contact 
with  himself.  They  can  refuse  the  con- 
tact and  turn  away  ;  but,  if  they  remain, 
they  continue  to  be  with  God,  and  thus 
they  know  him. 

This  knowledge,  one  springing  from 
direct  communion  with  God,  and  this 
only,  is  the  knowledge  which  the  teach- 
ing of  Jesus  is  designed  to  produce. 
Any  other  knowledge,  such,  for  example, 
as  the  theologian  draws  from  Jesus'  ut- 
terances, is  incidental  and  auxiliary.  The 
"  salvation  of  knowledge  "  is  the  salvation 
of  personal  communion  with  God. 

2.  The  doctrine  of  holiness.  "  Light  " 
sometimes  means  holiness,  as  has  already 
been  explained.  The  coming  of  the 
Light  was  the  coming  of  One  "  full  of 
grace  and  truth."  "3  He  became  the 
revelation  of  holiness  by  being  what  he 

13  Jn.  i.  14. 


The  Salvation  of  Knowledge  67 

was,  holy  and  pure.14  At  this  point, 
however,  his  teaching  was  also  largely  in 
the  realm  of  what  our  theologians  call 
doctrine.  He  explains  the  ancient  Law, 
— of  murder,  of  adultery,  of  oathtaking, 
of  vengeance,  of  love,'5 — and  carries  its 
prohibitions  down  from  mere  outward 
acts  to  the  very  thoughts  of  the  heart. 
He  enlarges  on  the  duties  of  men  in 
practical  life, — on  prayer,  and  fasting,  and 
the  use  of  money,  and  charitable  judg- 
ment.'6 He  even  interprets  anew,  and 
against  the  letter  of  the  ancient  law,  cer- 
tain things,  as,  for  example,  the  law  of 
divorce.17  All  this  may  be  called  the 
system  of  duties,  ethics,  or  a  moral  phi- 
losophy. But  he  who  heard  must  do; 
otherwise  the  end  of  the  teaching  was 
not  gained.18 

14  Comp.  1  Jn.  iii.  3. 

15  See  Matt.  v.  21-48.      Comp.  xxii.  37-40. 
,6  Comp.  Matt,  chaps,  vi.  and  vii. 

17  Matt.  v.  32. 

18  Matt.  vii.  26,  27. 


68  His  Own  Mission 

3.  The  doctrine  of  sin  (comp.  chap- 
ter IV). 

4.  The  doctrine  that  he  himself  is  Sav- 
iour. That  doctrine  is  contained  by  im- 
plication in  many  of  his  words,  such  as 
those  we  are  here  successively  consider- 
ing, but  not  by  implication  alone.  It  was 
made  repeatedly  the  object  of  express 
declaration,  as  we  need  not  take  time  here 
to  elaborate.'9  It  is,  therefore,  not  Jesus' 
doctrine  that  saves,  but  he  himself.  Salva- 
tion is  personal  contact  with  a  saving 
person.  Were  this  contact  simply  that 
personal  contact  which  secures  like- 
mindedness  in  those  between  whom  the 
contact  is  formed,  it  would  be  indistin- 
guishable from  the  influence  of  Jesus' 
doctrine  ;  for  this  is  designed  to  produce 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth  and  likeminded- 
ness  with  God.  But  Jesus  constantly 
represents  himself  as  doing  something  for 

'9  e.  g.,  Matt.  v.  1 7,  "  I  came,"  etc. ;  ix.  6, "  Son 
of  Man  ;  "   xi.  28  ;  Jn.  iii.  14-17,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 


The  Salvation  of  Knowledge   69 

our  salvation,  such  as  being  "  lifted  up  ;  " 
and  he  makes  faith  a  trustful  surrender 
to  him, — a  distinct  person, — not  merely 
to  truth  which  is  abstract  and  impersonal. 
Here  then,  we  find  the  anticipation  of 
what  is  to  follow  in  the  development  of 
Jesus'  mission,  for  the  question  must 
arise  why  he,  as  a  person,  should  have 
this  importance.  Not  alone,  evidently, 
because  in  seeing  him  man  sees  God  ; 
for  in  these  distant  centuries  we  see  him 
no  more ;  but  because  he  is  something, 
and  does  something  not  contained  in  his 
own  teachings,  or  in  the  teachings  of 
others  about  him. 

The  meaning  of  Jesus  in  describing 
himself  as  the  "  Light,"  may  possibly  be 
better  conveyed  to  this  time  by  the  an- 
swer of  a  question  often  agitated  in  past 
periods  of  the  church's  life,  but  daily  pre- 
sented in  one  form  or  another  in  this 
period.  Is  a  man  saved  by  his  ortho- 
doxy ?  Is  another  man  lost  because  of 
his  heterodoxy  ?     The  reply  cannot  be 


70  His  Own  Mission 

doubtful.  Not  "knowledge,"  but 
knowledge  accepted  and  obeyed,  is  the 
way  of  salvation.  And,  conversely,  not 
ignorance,  but  wilful  ignorance,  which 
rejects  the  truth,  "  cometh  not  to  the 
light  lest  its  works  should  be  reproved," 20 
— this  condemns.  Not  a  given  amount  of 
knowledge,  but  "  faith,"  holy  attitude  of 
heart  even  if  coupled  with  few  advantages 
for  intellectual  acquaintance  with  truth, 
saves.21  Even  the  attitude  towards  Jesus 
may  be  an  unconscious  one,  but  it  is  sal- 
vation if  it  be  the  right  attitude.22  We 
have,  thus,  the  same  emphasis  laid  by 
Jesus  on  the  inner  ethical  relations,  on 
the  will  in  distinction  from  the  mere 
intellect,  as  led  Paul  to  mention  the 
heathen  as  sometimes  "  doing  by  nature 
the  things  of  the  law,"  "  being  the  law 
unto  themselves,"23  for  Jesus  says:  "If 

20  Jn.  iii.  20. 

21  Matt.  viii.  10-12. 

22  Matt.  xxv.  37-40. 

23  Ro.  ii.  14. 


The  Salvation  of  Knowledge  71 

any  man  willeth  to  do  His  will,  he  shall 
know  ;  " 24  and  again  :  "  If  ye  abide  in  my 
word  ...  ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free."25 

Salvation  does  not  exclude  the  matter 
of  knowledge,  and  perfected  salvation 
involves  much  knowledge  ;  but  salvation 
is  essentially  a  matter  of  "light"  of  the 
reception  of  what  knowledge  a  man  may 
have. 

24  Jn.  vii.  17. 

2s  Jn.  viii.  31,32. 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Salvation  of  Repentance  and  a 
New  Life 

"  I  am  come  to  call  sinners  to  repentance."     Lk. 
v.  32. 

"  I  came  that  they  may  have  life."     Jn.  x.  10. 

JOHN  expresses  the  object  of  Jesus' 
coming  by  the  word  "  light." 
This  is  the  salvation  of  knowledge. 
It  designates  the  internal,  the  state  of  the 
heart  and  mind,  and  brings  us  into 
spheres  where  saints  have  spoken  of 
"  beatific  visions."  It  is  among  the  high 
things  of  Christian  doctrine.  And  it  is 
almost  peculiar  to  the  Fourth  Gospel. 
72 


Repentance  and  a  New  Life    73 

The  other  gospels  are  of  a  simpler  and 
more  matter-of-fact  character.  They 
have  their  simpler  ways  of  expressing 
Jesus'  message  to  men.  We  are  to  con- 
sider one  of  them  under  the  present 
head.  There  are  differences  which 
strike  us  at  once,  which  may  seem  to 
create  a  dissonance  between  John  and 
the  Three.  Possibly  a  harmony  of 
meaning  may  ultimately  be  found,  and 
if  so,  the  supposition  of  the  unity  of  New 
Testament  teaching,  with  which  we 
started  out,  will  receive  an  important  con- 
firmation. 

John  Baptist's  Preaching 
John  "  came  preaching,  Repent  ye, 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand."  ' 
The  word  " repent"  which  he  used, 
meant  a  "  change  of  mind,"  a  funda- 
mental reversal  of  purposes  and  modes  of 
thought,  but  especially  a  corresponding 
change  of  life.  His  preaching  justified 
1  Matt.  iii.  i,  2. 


74  His  Own  Mission 

his  employment  of  such  a  word.  The 
reports  of  his  sermons  which  have  come 
down  to  us  are  very  brief,  but  there  is 
enough  to  indicate  their  substance.  He 
was  sharp  in  his  denunciation  of  sin,2 
and  clear  in  his  assertion  of  the  peril  at- 
tending it.3  No  racial  advantages  would 
be  enough  to  secure  a  man's  salvation,4 
but  "  fruits  "  worthy  of  repentance  must 
be  produced,  and  these  were  charity, 
justice,  mildness,  truth,  and  contented- 
ness.  His  preaching  was,  therefore, 
faithful  and  radical,  demanding  that 
thorough  change  of  heart  and  deeds 
which  alone  can  make  saints  out  of  sin- 
ners. 

Jesus'  Preaching 
Jesus  began  his  ministry  with  the  same 
preaching,  expressed  in  the  same  words.5 

3  "  Offspring  of  vipers,"  Lk.  iii.  7. 
3  "  Cast  into  the  fire,"  ib.  9. 
*ffid.  8. 
s  Matt.  iv.  1 7. 


Repentance  and  a  New  Life    75 

The  meaning  also  was  the  same  ;  and  the 
full  development  of  his  idea,  which  grad- 
ually appeared  in  direct  exposition,  in 
illustration,  by  implication  in  other  things, 
leaves  one  impressed  with  the  radical 
nature  and  far-reaching  effects  of  the 
"  change  of  mind  "  which  repentance  is. 
With  both  John  and  his  Master,  repent- 
ance was  "  unto  remission  of  sins."6 
The  condition  of  forgiveness  was  some- 
times given  as  "  faith  "  ; 7  but  turning 
away  from  sin  (repentance)  and  turning 
towards  God  (faith)  are  the  same,  undi- 
vided act  of  the  soul.  He  who  does 
the  one,  must,  therefore,  do  the  other. 
It  makes  no  difference  under  which  of 
the  two  names  the  act  falls ;  it  is  still  the 
same.  Repentance  is  said  to  save  from 
"perishing"8  and  to  produce  "joy  in 
heaven." 9   And  its  expression  in  the  new 

6Mk.  i.  4. 

7  e.  g.  incidentally,  Matt.  ix.  2. 

8  Lk.  xiii.  3,  5. 

9  Lk.  xv.  7,  10. 


76  His  Own  Mission 

life  of  the  follower  of  Jesus  was  the 
theme  of  most  of  his  discourses. 

Repentance  and  the  resulting  new  life 
were,  thus,  salvation,  the  coming  of  the 
kingdom  within  *°  the  repentant  soul, 
or,  to  change  the  figure,  his  entrance  into 
that  kingdom.  Or,  to  put  it  in  another 
way,  the  new  life  may  be  said  to  consist 
of  three  things,  a  new  heart,  a  new  view 
of  God  and  the  world,  and  a  new  way  of 
acting,  new  good  deeds  done. 

It  was  towards  the  production  of  such 
a  new  life  that  Jesus  directed  his  preach- 
ing, and  in  this  he  performed  a  portion 
of  his  mission  as  Saviour.  He  "saved  " 
men  when  he  actually  brought  them  out 
of  sin  into  the  fellowship  of  God,  for  a 
man  who  has  this  fellowship  is  saved. 
To  effect  this,  he  preached  a  holy  life, 
and  most  of  his  discourses,  such  as  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount  in  particular,  were 
occupied  in  setting  forth  in  the  most  con- 

10  Lk.  vii.  21. 


Repentance  and  a  New  Life    77 

crete  way  what  a  good  life  is.  In  that 
sermon,  the  holy  virtues  of  the  heart  are 
placed  first, — poverty  of  spirit,  meekness, 
mercy,  purity,  peacefulness,  righteous- 
ness, etc., "  but  control  of  self  by  absti- 
nence from  anger  12  and  by  purity  of  both 
act  and  thought,'3  charity  M  and  love/5 
and  all  the  virtues  that  are  born  of  simplic- 
ity, piety,  trust,  and  obedience,  follow 
and  complete  the  list.  The  new  life  was 
to  be  the  old  life  transformed  by  an  in- 
ward new  spirit,  lived  in  the  same  world, 
but  by  utterly  different  and  new  methods. 
In  the  Gospel  of  John  we  have  these 
fundamental  thoughts  presented  after  a 
new  fashion,  but  without  essential  dif- 
ference. We  are  here  taught  that  a  man 
must  be  "  born  anew  "  l6  to  enter  the  king- 

"  Matt.  v.  3-12. 
12  Ibid.  vs.  22. 
"3  Vs.  28. 

14  Vs.  40. 

15  Vs.  44,  extending  even  to  one's  enemies. 

16  Jn.  iii.  2. 


78  His  Own  Mission 

dom  of  God,  and  this  by  the  "Spirit."  I7 
Thus  repentance  appears  for  the  first 
time  as  a  divinely  wrought  change  in  a 
man,  as  radical  as  is  the  entrance  on  his 
original  life  by  birth.  It  may  seem  that 
all  this  is  utterly  unlike  that  active 
change,  the  exertion  of  a  man's  powers 
in  forming  a  new  purpose  and  beginning 
a  new  life,  of  which  the  other  gospels 
are  full.  But  the  passive  change  of 
"birth"  is  nothing  if  it  does  not  event- 
ually lead  to  "  believing,"  ,8and  believing 
is  an  act  of  the  soul  as  truly  as  repentance, 
in  fact  is  the  same  act,  as  has  already  been 
shown.  It  is  the  act  by  which  a  man 
" passes  out  of  death  into  life."'9  And 
this  "life"  is  "eternal  life,"  or,  heaven 
already  begun  on  earth.20  As  a  life  de- 
pending, as  all  life  does,  on  due  nourish- 

17  Jn.  i.  13;  iii.  5- 

18  Jn.  iii.  15. 
'9  Jn.  v.  24. 

20  See  chap.  VI. 


Repentance  and  a  New  Life    79 

ment,  its  food  is  the  "bread  of  life"2' 
which  Jesus  comes  to  give,  and  which 
is  himself. 

The  "  new  birth  "  is  the  work  of  God 
through  his  Spirit.  It  is  mysterious" 
but  not  altogether  inexplicable  in  its  na- 
ture. The  Spirit  is  to  "  convince  "  the 
world  of  sin,23  and  conviction  depends  on 
the  use  of  means,  of  reasons  which  shall 
carry  conviction.  Hence,  in  this  gospel 
as  in  the  others,  Jesus  himself  makes  use 
of  means,  and  thus  fulfills  this  part  of  his 
mission.  He  preaches  everywhere,  by 
the  well,  as  well  as  in  the  temple.  One 
of  his  methods  was  to  recognize  the  holy 
forces  already  moving  men  to  repentance 
and  having  their  existence  in  the  society 
about  him.  Neither  John  nor  he  came 
to  a  people  altogether  without  means  of 
grace,  for  they  came  to  the  Jews,  who 
were  God's  chosen  people  and  had  "  the 

21  Jn.  chap.  vi. 

22  Jn.  iii.  8. 

23  Jn.  xvi.  8,  9. 


So  His  Own  Mission 

adoption,  and  the  glory,  and  the  cove- 
nants, and  the  giving  of  the  law,  and  the 
service  of  God,  and  the  promises,"  and 
the  "  fathers." 24  Hence  a  certain  sort  of 
preaching  was  never  thought  necessary 
by  either.  They  never  laboriously 
proved  the  truth,  as  something  altogether 
new.  They  built  on  truth  already  known 
and  acknowledged.  When  Jesus  saw 
the  "faith"  of  the  men  who  brought 
the  paralytic  to  him  and  of  the  paralytic 
himself,  he  recognized  it  and  gave  at  once 
the  greatest  of  all  divine  gifts,  forgive- 
ness, to  the  waiting  soul ;  and  then — then 
only — healing  to  the  suffering  body.25 

Another  means  employed  was  the 
preaching  of  sin,  its  nature  and  its  results. 
Here  again  he  connected  with  the  Old 
Testament,  for  the  penalty  of  sin  is 
"  death  "  26  or  "  darkness," 2?  and  is  heaped 

24  Ro.  ix.  4,  5. 

25  Matt.  ix.  2  ff. 

26  Ezek.  xviii.  4.      Comp.  Matt.  xxi.  41. 
87  Matt.  xxii.  13  ;   Jn.  iii.  19. 


Repentance  and  a  New  Life    8 1 

with  figures  designed  to  intensify  dread 
of  it. 

But  Jesus  does  not  seek  simply  to  de- 
ter from  sin.  He  attracts  to  the  good, 
and  that  principally  by  what  he  is  him- 
self.28 He  reveals  God ;  and  God  as  re- 
vealed in  Jesus  is  infinitely  lovely. 
Holiness,  when  understood  in  the  light 
of  the  one  holy  life,  the  life  of  Jesus, 
never  fails  to  attract.  Indeed,  in  the 
day  of  its  temporal  revelation  it  did  at- 
tract men,  for,  as  the  Jews  complained, 
the  world  went  after  him.29 

And,  finally,  Jesus  laid  down  his  life 
for  the  world,  and  thus  exercised  the 
highest  attractive  power  to  lead  men  to 
repentance,  as  well  as  proved  beyond 
doubt  his  own  unselfish  love.30  This 
was  his  preaching,  and  it  fulfilled  his 
mission  to  bring  men  unto  salvation,  the 
salvation  of  a  new  life. 

28  Comp.  the  discussion  in  Chapter  VI. 
2Q  Jn.  xii.  19. 
3°Jn  x.  15;  xv.  13,  14. 
F 


82  His  Own  Mission 

But  did  Jesus  teach  that  a  man  is 
saved  because  he  does  good  deeds  ?  Can 
a  man  begin  a  virtuous  life,  and  expect, 
in  accordance  with  the  teachings  of 
Jesus,  to  be  saved — forgiven  for  the 
past,  blessed  in  the  present  with  God's 
favor,  and  received  for  all  the  future  be- 
yond this  life  into  heaven — simply  on  the 
basis  of  what  he  is  and  does,  regardless 
of  any  grace  of  God  bringing  him  to  re- 
pentance, and  of  any  ground,  laid  by 
sacrifice  or  otherwise,  for  forgiveness  ? 
So  some  have  thought,  and  have  pointed 
to  the  fact  that  in  all  the  first  three  gos- 
pels the  condition  of  forgiveness  is  simply 
repentance.  It  has  even  been  said,  re- 
gardless of  that  word  "  faith,"  so  common 
in  these  gospels,  that  Jesus  never  pre- 
sents himself  there  as  an  object  of  reliance. 
It  is  said  that  God  is  always  presented  as 
ready  to  receive  the  repentant  sinner. 
The  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  is  the 
perfect  illustration  of  the  way  of  salva- 
tion.    Nothing  is  said  of  any  condition 


Repentance  and  a  New  Life     83 

on  God's  part  which  must  be  met  before 
there  can  be  forgiveness.  This  is  be- 
lieved to  be  a  proof  that  there  is  no 
obstacle  to  forgiveness  needing  to  be  put 
aside  by  the  offering  of  himself  by  Jesus. 
Over  against  John  Baptist's  theology 3I 
and  the  propitiatory  theology  of  Paul, 
they  set  this  as  the  "  theology  of  Jesus  ? " 
Are  they  right  ?  The  question  brings  us 
immediately  to  the  following  division  of 
Christ's  work. 
3'  See  Chapter  II. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  Salvation  of  Redemption  and 
Forgiveness 

"  The  Son  of  Man  came  to  minister,  and  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many."     Matt.  xx.  28. 

F"  #\7rE  have  now  arrived  at  the  most 
l'l'       important    department   of    our 
subject.      The   space   which  is 
given  to  the  passion  of  Jesus  in  the  gos- 
pels, nearly  one  fifth  of  their  entire  vol- 
ume, would  be  enough  to  indicate  it ; 
and  the  prominence  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, as  well  as  in  the  later  usage  of  the 
church,  of  the  "  cross  of  Christ  "  repeats 
the    indication.      Among    the    favorite 
84 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness   85 

names  of  the  Master  in  the  church  has 
ever  stood  foremost  that  of  "  Redeemer." 
The  text  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
chapter  stands  quite  isolated  from  its  con- 
text. The  mother  of  James  and  John 
has  been  asking  for  them  that  they  may 
occupy  the  chief  places  of  honor  in 
Christ's  kingdom.  Jesus  is  explaining 
in  reply  that  true  greatness  consists  not 
in  empty  honors  but  in  service.  Even 
the  Son  of  Man,  the  King,  came  to  serve. 
Then  he  adds,  not  as  a  mere  additional 
particular,  though  the  thought  takes  that 
grammatical  form,  but  as  an  explanation 
of  the  meaning  of  his  service  by  the  men- 
tion of  its  chief  element,  "  And  to  give 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many. "  His  service 
consisted  preeminently  in  giving  his  life 
a  ransom.1  The  statement  is  positive 
and  comprehensive ;  but  what  is  meant 
by  the  peculiar  phrase  employed,  "  give 
a  ransom,"  is  indicated  by  no  explanatory 

1  Comp.  Jn.  iii.  14-165  x.  18. 


86  His  Own  Mission 

remark  whatever.  Like  so  many  of 
Jesus'  sayings,  it  is  left  to  the  future  to 
interpret.  Except  as  the  word  "  ran- 
som "  itself  might  serve  to  convey  a  def- 
inite idea  to  the  hearers  to  whom  it  was 
addressed,  the  utterance  must  have  re- 
mained quite  enigmatical. 

We  are  left,  then,  to  this  source,  to 
the  meaning  of  the  word  in  the  language 
and  amid  the  customs  of  Israel,  and  to 
what  further  light  can  be  gained  from 
the  New  Testament  at  large,  for  its  inter- 
pretation. 

Old  Testament  Use 

The  Greek  word  here  rendered  "ran- 
som " 2  and  its  etymological  equivalents, 
are  employed  in  the  Greek  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament  in  the  sense  of  the 
price  paid  for  the  release  of  a  prisoner. 
Used  in  the  plural,  it  is  employed  to  des- 
ignate the  ransom  of  a  female  slave, 3  of 

2  Xvrpov. 

3  Lev.  xix.  20. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness  87 

the  first  born, 4  of  one's  own  life  forfeited 
before  the  law,5  of  one's  self  from  slavery,6 
and  of  a  whole  people  from  captivity.7 
It  has  been  employed  in  these  cases  for 
a  variety  of  Hebrew  words.8  But  in  one 
of  the  passages9  it  is  employed  also  to 
translate  another  word  that  has  a  peculiar 
meaning,  the  word  "  covering."  IO  The 
same  Hebrew  is  found  in  Ex.  xxx.  12, 
Num.  xxxv.  31,  32,  Prov.  vi.  35.  Now, 
"  to  cover  "  is  the  word  used  in  the  ritual 
of  Leviticus  of  the  atoning  efficacy  of 
the  sacrifices.11  Sin  is  "  covered  over" 
by  legal  rites  ordained  by  God,  or  God 
himself  may  cover  over  sin,  i.  e.,  view  the 


4  Num.  xviii.  15. 
s  Ex.  xxi.  30. 

6  Lev.  xxv.  51,  53. 

7  Is.   Xlv.    I3. 

8  jvhs,  ms,  TnD,  ntott. 

9  Ex.  xxi.  30. 

11  Comp.  particularly  Lev.  xvi.  6,  10,  1 1,  16,  17. 


88  His  Own  Mission 

sinner  favorably.12  It  lay  very  near  the 
Hebrew  usage,  therefore,  to  employ 
"covering"  in  the  sense  of  " propitia- 
tion," and  hence  its  translation,  "  ran- 
som," might  have  taken  that  meaning. 
In  this  sense  our  text  would  have  to  be 
translated,  "  give  his  life  a  propitiation  for 
many."  But  in  the  Old  Testament 
neither  the  Hebrew  word  nor  its  Greek 
equivalent  in  the  translation  known  as 
the  "  Septuagint "  is  ever  used  in  this 
sense.  It  is  the  payment  of  money  that 
always  occasions  the  introduction  of  the 
word  "  ransom  "  there.  So  far  as  the  in- 
fluence of  the  Old  Testament  goes,  it  is 
therefore  against  the  rendering  of  the 
term  by  "propitiation."  But  in  profane 
Greek, — in  iEschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripi- 
des, Plato,  and  Lucian, — the  word  and 
its  cognates  are  freely  used  in  the  sense 
of  "  propitiation."  I3 

12  Comp.  Deut.  xxi.  8. 

13  The  importance  of  this  point  leads  me  to  add 
a  translation  of  the  remarks  of  Cremer,  in  his  Bibl- 


Redemption  mid  Forgiveness   89 

New  Testament  Use 

We  come,  then,  to  the  study  of  the 
New  Testament  use  of  the  word  "  ran- 
som "  with  the  result  that  it  may  mean 
either  "price  paid  for  liberation"  or 
"propitiation,"  with  the  weight  of  Old 
Testament  usage  in  favor  of  the  former. 

theol.    Worterbuch  d.  Nt.  Gracitat,   under  the   word 
Xvrpov.      He  says  :  — 

"  The  use  of  Xvrpov  in  profane  Greek  in  the 
sense  of  propitiation  may  be  seen  in  the  following 
examples  :  /Eschylus  (Choeph.  48)  Xvrpov  at,ua.Tos, 
in  connection  with  Xvav,  employed  of  propitiatory 
rites,  e.  g.  cf>6vov  <£oV«  Xvetv  Sophocles  (O.  R.  100) ; 
Euripides  (Or.  510);  iEschylus,  (Choeph.  803 
[791])  ay^TC,  tcuv  77-aAcu  ■n-e.Trpayp.h/uiv  XvaaarO'  aXpua. 
Tr/Docr^aTots  Si'kcus,  '  the  bloodguiltiness  of  the  old 
deeds  atone  with  new  punishment ' ;  Plato  (Repub. 
2,  3^4-5  ")  ^u(ms  &*  Ka'  KaOap/xol  dSiKrjp,dTwv,  of  pro- 
pitiation by  ritual  and  in  divine  service ;  Sopho- 
cles (El.  447)  XvTrjpicL.  tov  4>6vov,  means  of  propitia- 
tion ;  Lucian  (Dial.  Deor.  4,  2)  el  8e  C7ravd£as  p-a, 
VTno")(yQvpxLL  (tol  kou  aXXov  Kpiov  Tv6rj(Tzo-6a.i  Xvrpa  virep 
ip.ov." 


go  His  Own  Mission 

Which  of  these  two  does  it  mean  ? 
We  decide  for  the  second,  and  for  the 
following  reasons :  — 

Words  are  understood  according  to 
the  connection  in  which  they  stand. 
The  word  "  ever-lasting,"  for  example, 
may  mean  much  as  it  is  used  of  God,  or 
very  little,  as  it  is  used  of  a  sleepless 
night.  The  connection,  the  context, 
is  largely  decisive  in  determining  such  a 
question  as  this.  The  immediate  con- 
text, as  already  shown,  gives  us  no  help 
as  to  the  meaning  of  "  ransom. "  Is  there 
a  wider  context,  is  there  anything  else  in 
the  utterances  of  Jesus,  as  they  have 
come  down  to  us,  which  bears  on  the 
question  and  gives  us  the  means  of  de- 
ciding ? 

The  passage,  Matt.  xxvi.  28,15— "This 
is  my  blood  of  the  covenant  which  is 
poured  out  for  many  unto  remission  of 

IS  Parallels  are  Mk.  x.  45  ;  Lk.  xxii.  20  ;  1  Cor. 
xi.  24,  25. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness  9 1 

sins," — forms  such  a  context.  Jesus  is 
here  speaking  of  the  cup  which  he  gives 
to  the  disciples  in  the  Last  Supper. 
Taken  as  it  here  stands,  and  especially 
under  the  circumstances  in  which  it  is 
uttered,  this  text  is  the  plainest  assertion 
possible  that  the  blood  of  Christ  is  a  pro- 
pitiation, a  covering  of  sins  because  a 
sacrifice  for  them.  "  Blood"  "  blood  of 
the  covenant"  "shed  unto  remission  of 
sins, ' ' — these  are  the  pivotal  words,  and 
they  point  immediately  back  to  the  seal- 
ing of  the  covenant  by  Moses  at  Sinai. 
A  Jew,  familiar,  with  the  Scriptures,  or 
even  accustomed  to  note  the  ritual  of 
sacrifices  still  practised  in  that  day  in  the 
Temple,  could  scarcely  understand  them 
in  any  other  way.  So  we  should  sup- 
pose. But  we  have  more  than  supposi- 
tion to  go  on,  for  we  have  a  whole  New 
Testament  book  to  show  how  one  Jew 
actually  did  understand  them, — the  writer 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  In  the 
central  chapter  of  his  book,  the  ninth,  he 


92  His  Own  Mission 

has  been  drawing  out  the  analogy  be- 
tween Christ's  offering  and  that  of  the 
great  day  of  Atonement,16  and  then  has 
recalled  at  length  the  sanctification  of  the 
covenant  by  Moses ;  I?  and  he  concludes 
thus :  "  Apart  from  shedding  of  blood 
there  is  no  remission  [under  the  Mosaic 
law].  .  .  .  Now  hath  (Christ)  been  man- 
ifested to  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of 
himself. ",s  Hence  we  have  ''boldness 
to  enter  into  the  holy  place  by  the  blood 
of  Jesus."19  Thus  to  every  hearer 
trained  under  the  system  of  Israel  as  it 
existed  in  the  days  when  Jesus  spoke  of 
his  blood  as  the  "  blood  of  the  cove- 
nant," these  words  had  one  meaning  and 
but  one,  the  meaning  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  that  the  blood  of  Jesus 
was  the  propitiation  for  our  sins. 

Now,  the  inherent  and  logical  relation 

,6Heb.  ix.  11-14. 

17  Verses  18-22. 

18  Verses  22,  26. 
''  Heb.  x.  19. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness  93 

of  these  ideas,  "ransom  "  and  "propitia- 
tion," gives  us  the  meaning  of  our  text, 
"give  his  life  a  ransom."  If  the  giving 
is  a  price  paid  only,  it  need  not  be  a  pro- 
pitiation. But  if  it  is  a  propitiation,  it 
must  be  a  ransom,  since  it  must  set  the 
many  free.  In  the  plainer  passage  it  is 
manifestly  a  propitiation.  This  is  its 
central  and  controlling  idea.  And  hence 
it  is  a  ransom  because  a  propitiation.  The 
word  "  ransom  "  is  used  here  at  any  rate 
as  equivalent  to  propitiation  ;  and,  there- 
fore, since  it  can  bear  that  meaning  di- 
rectly (as  shown  above  from  the  profane 
Greek),  we  prefer  to  say  it  does,  and  give 
it  the  meaning  of  propitiation. 

Critcal  Objections 

Attention  has  been  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  words,  "  unto  remission  of  sins," 
are  not  found  in  the  parallel  passages  de- 
scribing the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. The  inference  has  been  drawn  that 
they  are  not  a  genuine  portion  of    the 


94  His  Own  Mission 

earliest  tradition,  but  were  added  by  the 
writer  of  Matthew  in  the  interest  of  ritua- 
listic ideas.  Jesus,  it  is  also  said,  never 
manifests  any  interest  in  the  ritualistic 
and  institutional  elements  of  religion,  and 
so  never  could  have  given  utterance  to 
these  additional  words. 

The  fact  that  the  words  in  question  are 
found  in  but  one  of  the  evangelists  counts 
but  little  against  them.  If  Matthew  may 
be  said  to  have  added  them,  it  is  equally 
easy  to  say  that  the  others  may  have  omit- 
ted them,  for  they  add  nothing  essential  to 
the  idea  conveyed  by  the  phrase  "  blood 
of  the  covenant,"  which  was  always  pro- 
pitiatory. It  is  equally  easy  to  say  either, 
and  equally  useless.  The  words  stand  as 
an  undisputed  portion  of  the  text,  and 
can  be  removed  only  by  the  arbitrary 
methods  of  a  subjective  criticism,  which 
has  only  such  value  as  its  originator  feels 
inclined  to  assign  it,  and  then  only  for 
himself.  The  added  argument  that  Jesus 
could  not  have  said  it,  is  equally  valueless. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness  95 

"  Jesus  never  speaks  of  institutions  and 
ritual,"  they  say.  "  But  here  is  a  case," 
it  is  replied,  and  other  cases  are  to  be 
found  when  he  speaks  of  the  "  church  "  2° 
and  of  "  baptism." 2I  "  The  text  is  cor- 
rupt in  all  these  cases  because  it  would 
overthrow  our  proposition,"  is  the  re- 
joinder. In  other  words,  the  criticism  as- 
sumes such  a  knowledge  of  Jesus  apart  from 
the  records,  that  it  can  dispute  the  records  on 
the  basis  of  that  knowledge.  But  one  ounce 
of  fact,  such  as  is  given  by  this  text,  is 
worth  a  ton  of  conjecture.  If  the  criti- 
cism is  to  be  allowed  any  value,  it  will 
put  itself  in  better  condition  before  itself 
and  before  the  world,  if  it  frankly  admits 
that  it  believes  we  know  nothing  indis- 
putably certain  about  the  teaching  of 
Jesus.  But  then  serious  men  will  not 
continue  to  busy  themselves  with  the 
study  of  so  unknown  a  teacher. 

20  Matt.  xvi.  18. 

21  Matt,  xxviii,  19. 


96  His  Own  Mission 

It  may  be  confidently  affirmed,  and 
will  meet  with  no  objection  from  any 
competent  critic  of  the  present  day,  that 
on  the  basis  of  the  Old  Testament  as 
we  have  it,  the  writer  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  was  right  in  his  under- 
standing of  the  meaning  of  Jesus'  blood. 
The  account  of  the  ratification  of  the 
covenant  of  God  with  Israel  is  recorded 
in  Ex.  xxiv.  4-8.  Moses  is  then  re- 
ported to  have  taken  blood  and  sprinkled 
it  upon  the  altar  and  then  upon  the  peo- 
ple. Why  it  was  put  upon  the  altar  is 
clear.  It  was  the  blood  of  "  burnt-offer- 
ings "  and  "  peace-offerings  "  which  had 
just  been  offered.22  Now,  the  blood  of 
such  offerings,  though  not  primarily  pro- 
pitiatory, was  such  secondarily.  If  a  man 
was  to  rejoice  before  Jehovah,  he  needed 
first  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins,  and  there- 
fore a  propitiatory  sacrifice.  Hence  in 
Leviticus23  the  ritual  act  of  the  transfer 

22  Vs.  5. 

23  Lev.  i.  4. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness  97 

of  guilt  to  the  victim  by  the  laying  on  of 
hands  is  prescribed  in  the  case  of  burnt- 
ofTerings,  and  it  is  verbally  added  that 
the  offering  is  "  to  make  atonement."2* 
The  same  is  indicated  in  reference  to 
the  peace-offerings.25  There  was  no 
covenant  made  except  with  those  who 
by  sacrificial  atonement  had  received 
the  divine  forgiveness,  and  thus  been 
brought  into  fellowship  relations  with 
God.  This  is  the  fundamental  Jewish 
conception  of  the  whole  matter. 

The  Higher  Criticism  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament has  been  used  by  some  to  invali- 
date this  argument.  It  has  been  said 
that  the  sacrifices  of  primitive  Israel  were 
not  propitiatory  in  their  character;  that 
the  propitiatory  character,  and  the  use  of 
the  word  "cover,"  are  late,  in  fact,  post- 
exilic,  additions  ;  and  hence,  if  the  blood 
of  Jesus  is  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  it 

25  Lev.  iii.  2,  7,  13. 
G 


98  His  Own  Mission 

need  have  no  propitiatory  character  what- 
ever. You  must  not  distort  the  plain 
meaning  of  the  early  book,  Exodus,  by 
interpretations  brought  from  the  far  later 
one,  Leviticus ! 

Upon  the  correctness  of  the  conclusion 
as  to  the  original  meaning  of  sacrifices 
among  the  Israelites  and  the  relative  age 
of  the  various  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, we  shall  here  enter  no  opinion. 
This  is  not  the  place  for  profound  critical 
questions.  But  as  to  the  conclusion 
drawn  from  the  premises  to  invalidate 
the  text  under  our  present  discussion,  it 
is  utterly  erroneous.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  true  historical  course  of 
Israel's  ritualistic  development,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  the  compilers  of  our  present 
Old  Testament  and  the  Jews  of  our 
Lord's  time  who  read  it,  interpreted  the 
earlier  forms  by  the  later,  and  saw  in 
them  all  one  fundamental  significance, 
and  that  was  the  significance  of  a  pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice.     However  it  had  come 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness   99 

to  the  goal,  this  was  the  goal  of  the 
Israelitish  development.  That  is  the 
impression  which  the  Old  Testament, 
taken  as  one  consistent  whole,  giving  one 
designed  impression,  and  not  taken  as 
the  mere  materials  out  of  which  the 
"true"  (and  a  different)  impression  is  to 
be  laboriously  constructed,  made  on  its 
readers  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era,  and  makes  on  us  to-day.  Now,  that 
impression  constitutes  the  environment  of  our 
text *6  in  accordance  with  which  it  must 
be  understood.  Speaking  to  Jews  hav- 
ing such  an  understanding  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  its  blood  of  propitiation  and 
sealing,  the  evangelist  Matthew  must  have 
expected  his  text,  xxvi.  28,  to  be  under- 
stood in  that  sense.  In  fact,  he  must 
have  understood  it  so  himself.  What  he 
understood  by  it  and  what  others  under- 
stood by  it,  is  to  be  taken  as  its  meaning, 
intended  by  Jesus.  Any  other  interpre- 
tation is  impossible  and  incapable  of  being 
26  Comp.  chapter  I. 


ioo  His  Own  Mission 

sustained,  because  it  makes  Jesus  talk  a 
language  he  knew  would  and  must  be 
misunderstood. 

The  argument  from  the  environment 
of  our  text  is  not  yet  done.  That  environ- 
ment is  not  simply  the  Old  Testament. 
It  is  also,  as  already  explained,  the  por- 
tions of  the  New  Testament  in  existence 
when  the  gospel  appeared,27  particularly 
the  Epistles  of  Paul.  Now,  no  one  doubts 
that  Paul  held  the  death  of  Christ  to  be 
a  propitiatory  sacrifice.  He  calls  Jesus  a 
"  propitiation  "  28  and  a  "  sin-offering," 29 
and  a  "  curse."  3°  These  expressions  are 
plain  enough  ;  but  they  are  most  indubi- 
tably confirmed  by  what  one  of  his  school, 
the  writer  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews, 
says  at  so  great  length  when  he  makes 
Christ  priest  and  victim,  by  whose  blood, 

27  See  chapter  I. 

28  Ro.  iii.  25. 

29  Ro,  viii.  3,  though  possibly  doubtful ;  not  doubt- 
ful in  2  Cor.  v.  21. 

3°  Gal.  iii.  13. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness   101 

as  the  antitype  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  great 
day  of  Atonement,  we  obtain  the  remis- 
sion of  our  sins.  Peter  but  took  up  the 
one  voice  of  the  rest  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment when  he  appropriated  the  words  of 
Isaiah  and  wrote  of  Christ's  bearing  "  our 
sins  in  his  body  on  the  tree  ....  by 
whose  stripes  ye  were  healed."  3I 

One  more  passage  only  remains  to  be 
cited,  as  throwing  light  on  the  meaning 
both  of  Matt.  xx.  28  and  of  Matt.  xxvi.  28, 
but  it  is  a  most  important  and  significant 
passage.  In  our  Lord's  last  hours  with 
his  disciples,  just  before  he  began  that 
great  final  discourse,  "  let  not  your  heart 
be  troubled,"  he  said,  as  related  by 
Luke : 32  "  For  I  say  unto  you  that  this 
which  is  written  must  be  fulfilled  in  me, 
And  he  was  reckoned  with  the  trangress- 
ors  :  for  that  which  concerneth  me  hath 
fulfillment. "    This  is  a  quotation  by  Jesus 

31  I  Pet.  ii.  24. 

32  Lk.  xxii.  37. 


102  His  Own  Mission 

himself  from  the  fifty-third  chapter  of 
Isaiah,  identifying  himself  with  the  "Serv- 
ant of  Jehovah "  there  described,  and 
his  own  work  with  that  Servant's  work. 
In  Isaiah  the  servant  is  "  reckoned  with 
the  transgressors  "  because  he  is  treated 
as  a  transgressor,  for  "  Jehovah  laid  on 
him  the  iniquity  of  us  all,"  and  "  he  bore 
the  sin  of  many."  Jesus,  who  knew  the 
meaning  of  the  Old  Testament,  must  have 
had  all  this  in  mind  as  he  identified  him- 
self with  Isaiah's  "  Servant ;  "  and  he  has 
thus  himself  again  declared  plainly  that  his 
work  was  that  of  bearing  our  sins,  or  of 
being  a  propitiatory  sacrifice. 

Thus  at  the  end  of  Jesus'  life,  and  by 
himself,  we  find  the  same  identification 
of  Jesus  with  the  sacrificial  lamb  of  God 
as  John  made  at  the  beginning.  This  is 
in  the  "synoptic"  Luke.  If  John  Bap- 
tist, or  the  writer  of  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
puts  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah,  as  a  kind  of 
motto,  over  the  beginning  of  Christ's 
life,    Jesus    himself   writes   it   over   the 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness  103 

close,  as  a  summary  and  epitaph.  It 
stamps  conclusively  the  interpretation  of 
the  other  passages  at  which  we  have  ar- 
rived without  its  help,  as  correct.  Its 
final  authority  can  only  be  removed  by 
the  same  arbitrary  and  subjective  critical 
processes  which  must  be  employed  with 
Matt.  xxvi.  28.  We  have  seen  how  in- 
conclusive they  are.  They  are  the  more 
inconclusive  because  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Jesus  claimed  to  be  the  prom- 
ised Messiah  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  "Messiah"  and  the  "Servant  of 
Jehovah "  were  one  and  the  same. 
Every  time  he  claimed  to  be  Messiah 
he  taught  the  propitiatory  character  of  his 
death.  A  "Messiah"  could  never  be  a 
mere  teacher,  because  Isaiah  fifty-three 
could  never  be  dissociated  from  the  com- 
plete Old  Testament  picture  of  him, 
however  the  Jews  might  ignore  it. 

Thus  we  close  our  view  of  the  first 
three  gospels.  Upon  the  basis  of  all  this 
discussion,  its  several  lines  of  argument 


104  His  Own  Mission 

leading  to  the  same  result,  we  conclude 
that  the  word  "ransom "in  Matt.  xx.  28 
is  to  be  understood  of  a  propitiatory  sac- 
rifice which,  because  it  was  propitiatory, 
redeemed  the  many  from  death,  the  pen- 
alty of  the  law. 

Did  not  Jesus  omit  the  Doctrine  of  Atone- 
ment? 

The  studies  which  we  have  been  mak- 
ing in  the  first  three  gospels  to  this  point 
have  been  largely  verbal  studies,  matters 
of  the  interpretation  of  words.  We 
must  return  now  briefly  to  the  objection 
raised  at  the  close  of  the  last  chapter  in 
the  interest  of  a  deeper  view  of  Jesus' 
mission.  A  certain  impatience  with 
verbal  arguments  is  sometimes  mani- 
fested. Let  us  not  quibble  with  words, 
it  is  said,  let  us  rise  to  a  larger  view  of 
the  great  methods  and  the  profound 
meaning  of  Jesus.  When  he  forgives, 
he  does  it  freely.  He  never  insists  upon 
any  atonement  or  upon  any  other  condi- 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness   1 05 

tion.  He  simply  calls  to  repentance. 
His  doctrine  is,  "  Repent  and  you  shall 
be  forgiven."  The  Publican  who  cried, 
"  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner,"  and 
the  Prodigal  Son  who  exclaimed,  "  Father 
I  have  sinned,"  and  whose  father  did  not 
permit  him  even  to  close  his  petition,  but 
called  for  the  best  robe  and  the  ring, — 
these  are  the  examples  of  Jesus'  teaching 
which  show  he  was  far  above  the  petty 
doctrine  of  an  atonement.  So,  in  sub- 
stance, it  is  often  said. 

But  a  "  large"  treatment  of  a  subject 
can  never  be  successful  if  it  neglects  the 
first  elements  of  interpretation.  One  of 
these  is  that  a  speaker  is  not  compelled 
to  say  everything  pertaining  to  a  subject 
every  time  he  touches  it.  Is  the  doctrine 
of  forgiveness  upon  condition  of  repent- 
ance true?  Then  Jesus  may  teach  it, 
without  necessarily  discussing  its  ground. 
Another  principle  of  interpretation  is  that 
a  parable  can  be  held  to  teach  only  the 
truth  designed  to  be  taught,  and  that  it 


106  His  Own  Mission 

cannot  be  quoted  in  favor  of  all  the  pos- 
sible inferences  from  its  mere  language 
aside  from  its  main  intent.  Thus,  from 
the  parable  of  the  vineyard  you  cannot 
infer  that  the  divinely  intended  business 
of  the  Jews  was  exclusively  viticulture ! 
or  from  the  parable  of  the  mustard  seed 
(a  pungent  tasting  seedlet)  that  repentance 
is  always  a  bitter  thing  ! 

Now,  as  to  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son,  one  thing  is  intended  by  Jesus,  and 
but  one,  viz.,  to  enforce  the  position  that 
the  gospel  was  provided  for  "sinners," 
and  that  God  had  a  new  joy  over  a  re- 
pentant soul  simply  because  he  had  been 
lost.  The  joy  of  the  father  is  the  point : 
all  the  rest  is  accessory.  Of  course,  cer- 
tain other  doctrines  could  not  fail  to  be 
taught,  for  they  contribute  to  the  main 
effect  of  the  story,  or  are  essential  to  it. 
Thus  the  fact  and  misery  of  sin ;  the 
motives  to  repentance ;  its  nature  and 
thorough-going  character ;  find  illustra- 
tion in  the  parable :  but  the  readiness  of 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness   107 

the  father  to  receive  the  sinner,  and  his 
equal  position  in  the  favor  and  love  of 
the  father  with  any  who  may  not  have 
gone  so  grievously  astray,  is  the  main 
thing,  and  nothing  not  essential  to  this 
can  be  demanded  of  the  teacher  as  a 
necessary  portion  of  his  story.  Until 
modern  preachers,  who  believe  in  the 
atonement,  can  be  held  to  mention  it 
every  time  they  speak  of  forgiveness 
(and  what  rhetorician  could  be  as  foolish 
as  this?),  Jesus  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  ignorant  of  the  doctrine  or  to  have 
rejected  it  because  he  did  not  insert  it  in 
such  instances  as  this  parable. 

If  anything  more  were  needed  to 
complete  the  refutation  of  the  "larger" 
argument,  it  would  be  the  distinct  addi- 
tion, by  this  very  Luke,  of  the  reference 
to  the  propitiatory  work  of  Christ  in 
xxii.  37  already  discussed.  Not  a  synop- 
tic but  has  some  reference  to  this  work, 
though  the  scope  of  his  book  prevents 
him  from  enlarging  upon  it ! 


108  His  Own  Mission 

The  Gospel  of  John 

The  detailed  and  careful  examination 
of  the  texts  made  above  has  been  neces- 
sary because  the  teaching  of  Jesus  him- 
self as  to  his  death  has  been  thought  by 
many  in  recent  days  to  be  confined  to 
the  first  three  gospels,  and  to  omit  en- 
tirely the  element  of  sacrifice  as  a  por- 
tion, much  more  as  the  chief  portion,  of 
its  significance.  It  has  been  shown,  we 
trust,  that  the  first  three  gospels  do  not 
make  this  omission.  We  now  turn  to 
the  Fourth  Gospel.  It  has  been  gen- 
erally acknowledged  that  this  gospel 
gives  the  central  place  in  Christ's  work 
to  his  death  as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice. 
We  may  despatch  this  portion  of  our 
work,  therefore,  more  briefly ;  but  we 
need  to  know  the  grounds  which  have 
led  to  this  general  admission. 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  himself  in  the 
Gospel  of  John  are  not  to  be  sharply 
separated  from  the  teachings  of  the  evan- 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness    1 09 

gelist,  as  has  already  been  explained.33 
Therefore  the  significant  utterance  of 
John  the  Baptist,  recorded  in  John  i.  29, 
that  Jesus  was  "  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,"34 
belongs  here.  Standing,  as  it  does,  at 
the  very  opening  of  this  gospel,  it  is  as  if 
the  Apostle  John  had  put  it  as  the  text 
of  all  his  subsequent  teaching  as  to  Jesus' 
work,  as  the  key  by  which  his  later  ex- 
pressions were  to  be  understood.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that,  if  the  idea  of  propitiation 
here  presented  be  taken  as  a  guide,  all 
the  subsequent  teaching  becomes  imme- 
diately clear.  We  shall,  however,  relin- 
quish the  advantage  given  by  this  use  of 
the  text,  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  the 
independent  contribution  of  other  texts 
to  our  theme. 

The  first  discourse  of  Jesus  recorded 
in  this  gospel  opens  the  discussion.     Be- 

33  See  chapter  I. 

34  See  chapter  II. 


1 1  o  His  Own  Mission 

ginning  with  the  necessity  of  regenera- 
tion,35 and  affirming  the  competence  of 
the  teacher,36  it  proceeds  to  explain  the 
way  of  entrance  to  the  "  kingdom  of 
God  "  by  "  believing,"  and  sets  forth  the 
object  of  faith,  the  crucified  Son  of  Man.37 
The  verses  fourteen,  fifteen  and  sixteen, 
give  an  epitome  of  the  entire  gospel. 
God  "  gave  "  his  Son.  This  word  is  ex- 
plained by  x.  18,  when  "  to  lay  down  his 
life  "  is  said  to  be  the  "  commandment  " 
of  the  Father.38  The  "  giving  "  thus  in- 
volves death,  and  this  is  the  death  of  "  lift- 
ing up,"39  or  death  upon  the  cross;  and 
this  death  constitutes  Jesus  as  an  object 
of  faith,  so  that  men  are  to  believe  in  him,40 
that  is,  entrust  themselves  to  him  in  con- 

35  Jn.  iii.  3. 

36  Verses  11-13. 
"Verses  14,  15. 

38  Comp.  Phil.  ii.  8,  "  obedient  unto  death." 

39  See  vs.  14,  and  comp.  xii.  32,  33. 

40  Vs.    15,  or   if  this   be   otherwise    construed, 
then  16. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness    1 1 1 

sequence  of  what  he  has  become  by  be- 
ing lifted  up.  No  closer  explanation  of 
the  meaning  is  given  except  by  the  ref- 
erence to  the  serpent,  and  the  point  of 
analogy  seems  to  be  merely  the  element 
of  trust  contained  in  both.41  Twice  later 
in  the  gospel  the  same  figure  is  employed 
to  describe  Jesus'  death.42  In  connection 
with  the  first,  the  voluntary  character  of 
the  death  is  emphasized  by  the  phrase 
"I  go  away,"43  of  which  the  phrase 
"  lifted  up  the  Son  of  Man  "  is  but  the 
argumentative  parallel.  He  went  (vol- 
untarily) away,  but  it  was  by  means  of 
betrayal  and  crucifixion.  In  the  second, 
the  context,  which  is  the  remarkable  pas- 
sage where  the  coming  of  the  Greeks 
suggests  the  world  wide  character  of  his 
mission,  brings  forward  the  thought  that 
only  when  he  was  lifted  up,  could  his 
universal  work  be  done.     Then,  and  then 

41  See  Num.  xxi.  9. 

42  Jn.  viii.  28,  and  xii.  32,  34. 

43  Verse  2 1 . 


1 1 2  His  Own  Mission 

only,  could  he  "  draw  all  men  unto  him- 
self." Like  iii.  16,  it  thus  teaches  that 
his  death  constituted  him  the  Saviour. 

The  voluntary  character  of  Jesus' 
death,  and  its  central  position  in  his  work, 
are  made  the  theme  of  certain  passages 
in  the  discourse  of  the  Good  Shepherd.44 
He  comes  that  men  may  have  life,  and 
they  obtain  it  by  the  surrender  of  his  own 
life,  which  no  man  takes  from  him,  but 
which  he  lays  down  of  himself,45  because 
of  the  Father's  commandment,  and  that 
he  may  take  it  again. 

This  might  seem,  possibly,  to  make 
him  nothing  but  a  hero,  like  the  soldier 
who  takes  his  life  in  his  hand  for  his 
country,  or,  to  use  Jesus'  own  figure,  like 
the  shepherd  who  loses  his  life  for  his 
sheep.  This  impression  cannot,  how- 
ever, stand  before  a  closer  consideration 
of  the  passage,  for  the  central  thought  is 
that  of  voluntary  surrender.     The  human 

44  Jn.  x.  io,  ii,  17,  18. 
4*Vs.  18.  Comp.  xv,   13. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness    1 1 3 

shepherd  yields  to  a  violence  which  he 
cannot  overcome,  and  has  in  no  sense 
"  power  to  lay  his  life  down,  and  power 
to  take  it  again."     Not  so  Jesus. 

But  if  such  an  idea  were  obtainable 
from  the  discourse  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, the  discourse  of  the  Bread  of  Life 4& 
would  contradict  it.  Beginning  with  the 
figure  of  bread  derived  from  the  illustra- 
tion of  the  manna  given  to  Israel  in  the 
desert,47  Jesus  calls  himself  the  true  bread. 
He  must  be  eaten,  if  a  man  is  to  have  eter- 
nal life,48  that  is,  he  is  himself  the  object 
of  faith,  and  a  man  must  trust  on  what 
he  is  and  what  he  does,  if  he  is  to  be  saved. 
It  is  the  old  doctrine  of  iii.  14-16.  To 
make  this  perfectly  plain,  the  figure  of 
bread  is  soon  abandoned,  and  the 
"  bread  "  is  declared  to  be  his  "  flesh  ;  ' 
and,  if  this  is  not  enough,  "  flesh  "  is  ex- 

46  Jn.  chap.  vi. 

47  Vs.  31-33. 

48  Vs.  53. 

H 


1 1 4  His  Own  Mission 

panded  to  "flesh  and  blood."49  This 
language  is  itself  sacrificial,  and  plain 
enough  to  us  at  this  day.  But  to  a  Jew, 
accustomed  to  the  sacrificial  ritual,  and 
acquainted  with  the  use  of  the  flesh  of 
the  victim  as  food,50  the  allusion  was  even 
plainer.  It  might  yet  cause  stumbling  to 
the  enemies  of  Jesus,  and  they  might  ask, 
"  How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to 
eat?"51  But  those  who  still  listened 
heard  a  hint  of  resurrection  after  death52 
confirming  the  meaning  of  the  figure  of 
flesh  and  blood  as  referring  to  a  violent 
death. 

What  other  objective  and  unprejudiced 
interpretation  these  passages  would  ad- 
mit than  that  of  a  sacrificial  and  propi- 
tiatory death,  I  do  not  know.  But  if 
there  were  any  doubt,  the  setting  of  this 
element  of  Jesus'  teaching  in  the  gospels 

49  Vs.  53,  56. 

50  See  Lev.  vii.  15,  1  Sam.  i.  4. 
s«  Vs.  52. 

s2  Vs.  62. 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness    1 1 5 

at  large  would  make  it  perfectly  evident. 
When  we  remember  that  his  death  was 
accompanied  by  the  effusion  of  his 
blood,53  when  we  recall  the  institution  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  and  its  two  elements, 
bread  and  wine  for  body  and  blood,  and 
remember  that  the  death  was  prophesied 
at  the  beginning  of  the  ministry  by  Jesus, 
the  "  offering  of  the  body  of  Jesus  "  for 
the  "putting  away  of  the  sin"  of  the 
world 54  becomes  the  one  natural  mean- 
ing of  the  text.  This  was  certainly  the 
meaning  which  John  gained  from  it 
himself,  for  in  his  first  Epistle  he  lays  re- 
peated emphasis  on  the  hloodss  of  Christ, 
which  "  cleanseth  us  from  sin ; "  and 
bases  the  fact  of  Christ's  eternal  inter- 
cession and  advocacy  for  us  on  the  fact 
that  "  he  is  the  propitiation  for  our 
sins." 5&     It  is  but  a  repetition  of  the  pas- 

53  Jn.  xix.  34. 

54  Heb.  x.  10  ;    ix.  26. 

55  See  i.  7  ;  v.  6. 

56  1  Jn.  ii.  2. 


1 1 6  His  Own  Mission 

sage  in  the  gospel,  iii.  16,  when  we  read 
in  the  epistle,  iv.  10,  God  "  loved  us, 
and  sent  his  Son  to  be  the  propitiation 
for  our  sins." 

It  is,  then,  plain  from  these  texts,  in 
themselves  and  in  their  setting,  that 
Jesus  taught,  according  to  John's  testi- 
mony, the  propitiatory  character  of  his 
death.  When,  now,  employing  the 
motto-text  of  the  Gospel  as  our  guide, 
we  view  Jesus  from  the  beginning  as  the 
sacrificial  "  Lamb  of  God,"  every  possi- 
ble hesitation  must  be  swept  away.  In 
fact,  it  has  been  swept  away,  for  the 
method  which  modern  objectors  to  a 
propitiatory  sacrifice  have  with  one  con- 
sent adopted  to  invalidate  the  biblical 
character  of  the  doctrine,  is  the  critical 
method,  which  subjects  the  first  three 
gospels  to  an  arbitrary  and  subjective 
analysis,  and  denies  altogether  the  au- 
thenticity and  genuineness  of  the  fourth. 
In  the  light  of  that  motto-text,  it  is  as 
this  "  Lamb  "  that  Jesus  is  "  lifted  up," 


Redemption  and  Forgiveness    1 1 7 

and  laid  on  the  cross  as  upon  an  altar  ;  as 
"  Lamb  "  he  sheds  his  blood  ; S7  as  a  sacri- 
fice he  gives  his  life  ;  as  a  sacrifice  his 
flesh  and  blood  become  food  for  the  soul 
as  the  flesh  of  the  ancient  sacrifices  was 
the  food  of  the  sacrificers. 

Result 
The  four  gospels,  then,  perfectly  agree 
in  presenting  the  teaching  of  Jesus  as 
this,  that  his  death  was  a  propitiatory 
sacrifice.  Jesus  made,  it  is  true,  but  brief 
allusions  to  this  great  fact,  for  the  time 
had  not  yet  come  to  make  it  perfectly 
clear.  Even  to  the  disciples  the  thought 
of  a  suffering  Messiah  would  have  been 
a  stumbling  block,  58  as  it  always  remained 
to  the  Jews.  But  in  view  of  the  fact, 
the  teaching  becomes  clearer  to  us  than 
it  could  have  been  to  those  who  heard  it ; 
and  they,  when  they  had  seen  the  teach- 
ing illuminated  by  the  events  of  Calvary 
and  Olivet,  had  no  further  hesitation. 

57  Comp.  1  Pet.  i.  19,  20. 

58  Comp.  Jn.  vi.  66. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Salvation   at    the    Last  yudgment 

"  For  judgment  came  I  into  this  world."    Jn.  ix.  39. 

rHE  idea  of  Jesus  as  judge  moves 
amid  verbal  paradoxes  in  the  gos- 
pels. In  Jn.  iii.  17,  we  read  that 
"  God  sent  not  his  son  into  the  world  to 
judge  the  world."  Here  we  read  that 
he  "  came  for  judgment."  In  viii.  15,  "I 
judge  no  man  ;  "  in  v.  22  and  27,  "  the 
Father  hath  given  all  judgment  unto 
the  Son,"  "  and  he  gave  him  authority  to 
execute  judgment  because  he  is  the  Son 
of  man." 
118 


Salvation  at  the  Last  Judgment  1 19 

Yet  there  is  no  essential  difficulty,  or 
real  contradiction  in  the  gospel.  Jesus 
does  not  come  to  judge  the  world  but  to 
save  it.  "Judge"  here  means  condemn, 
pronounce  unfavorable  judgment  upon. 
This  has  been  already  done  for  the  sinful 
world,  which  lies,  in  the  omniscience  of 
God,  in  known  guilt  and  recognized 
condemnation.1  In  the  text  prefixed  to 
this  chapter,  the  meaning  is  still  another. 
Jesus  comes  to  present  truth,  as  the 
light,2  and  the  actual  result  of  this  will 
be  judgment,  the  making  manifest  of 
the  fact  that  those  who  in  their  own 
opinion  see,  are  really  blind ;  and  others 
who  know  they  have  no  spiritual  vision, 
gain  such  a  vision.  But  he  shall  come 
finally  to  execute  judgment  in  the  full 
and  proper  sense  of  that  word,3  when 
he  raises  the  dead,  and  they  come  forth, 

1  This  presentation   agrees  with  the  use  of  the 
word  "lost."     See  chapter  IV. 

2  Vs.  5. 
3Jn.  v.  22  ff. 


120  His  Own  Mission 

some  to  life,  others  to  a  judgment  that  is 
a  condemnation. 

The  Gospel  of  John,  with  its  constant 
emphasis  on  the  internal,  ethical  mean- 
ing of  the  message  of  Jesus,  preferably 
puts  the  decisive  point  in  the  destiny  of 
every  man  at  the  hour  of  believing  or 
rejecting  the  good  news.  Then  he 
"  passes  into  life  " 4  and  has  no  judgment 
hour  before  him,  or  he  remains  in  the 
state  of  the  judged  (and  condemned), 
and  "  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on 
him."5  Were  it  not  for  the  indications 
of  v.  22  fT  ("  the  Father  hath  given  all 
judgment  unto  the  Son"),  and  xii.  48 
("  the  word  that  I  spake  shall  judge  him 
in  the  last  day "),  it  might  seem  that 
John  did  not  teach  the  doctrine  of  a 
general  judgment.  But  he  is  put  by 
these  passages  in  full  agreement  with  the 
first  three   gospels,   which    everywhere 

«  Jn.  v.  24. 
sjn.  iii.  18,  36. 


Salvation  at  the  Last  Judgment  1 2 1 

teach  a  final  judgment,  of  which  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  Judge.6 

Now,  at  this  judgment  Jesus  appears 
for  the  last  time  and  in  the  fullest  sense 
as  Saviour.  Here  he  pronounces  the 
sentence,  separates  between  the  evil  and 
the  good,7  and  receives  his  true  fol- 
lowers, even  when  they  would  scarcely 
arrogate  to  themselves  the  title,b  into 
heaven.  Thus  he  completes  the  work 
which  he  began  by  announcing  that  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  was  near,  by  receiv- 
ing his  followers  into  it  and  giving  them 
"eternal  life." 

6  Matt.  xvi.  27  ;  xxv.  31  ff.      Mk.  viii.  38  ;   ix. 
I  ;   xiii.  26,  27.      Lk.  xxi.  27,  36. 
'  Matt.  xiii.  30.      Mk.  iv.  29. 
8  Matt.  xxv.  37. 


CHAPTER  X 

Summary 

TT7^^>    are    now   prepared,   in   the 
If  If       briefest  manner  possible,  to  re- 
view our  course  and  gather  to- 
gether in  a  single  expression  the  result 
of  our  studies. 

The  mission  of  our  Lord  in  the  world 
is  expressed  in  one  word.  He  is  our 
Saviour.  He  came  into  this  world  be- 
cause it  was  lying  in  sin  and  lost ;  and  he 
came  to  save  it.  That  expresses  the 
whole.  Whatever  he  should  find  neces- 
sary to  saving  the  world  he  would  do. 
122 


Summary  1 23 

And  the  ideal  which  he  set  before  him- 
self as  the  goal  to  be  attained  was  nothing 
less  than  a  saved  world,  a  world  where 
the  great  governing  law  of  heaven  should 
prevail,  a  world  that  was  the  kingdom  of 
heaven. 

In  seeking  this  end  he  met  the  various 
problems  as  they  arose,  and  solved  them 
one  by  one.  He  found  the  world  miser- 
able, sick  with  physical  disease,  plagued 
with  death  ;  and  he  healed  it,  curing  the 
sick,  raising  the  dead,  casting  out  demons. 
This  was  his  work  at  the  lowest  point  of 
the  distress  of  the  world, — its  physical  dis- 
tress. So  far  forth  his  healings  saved  it, 
put  into  it  something  of  the  triumph  over 
suffering  which  perfect  holiness  will 
finally  make  perfect. 

But  beneath  suffering  lay  sin,  its  cause. 
He  came  to  dispel  the  darkness  of  sin, 
because  it  was  ignorance,  wilful  ignorance 
of  truth,  and  painful  ignorance  of  God, 
what  he  is  and  what  his  friendship  is. 
As    Light,    Jesus    sought  to  bring    the 


124  Hi>s  Own  Mission 

knowledge  of  God  to  men  in  such  a  way 
as  should  lead  them  to  love  him  and  sur- 
render themselves  to  him,  and  thus,  for 
the  first  time,  know  him.  The  gift  of 
this  knowledge  was  the  gift  of  eternal 
life. 

But  men  do  not  all  move  on  such  a 
plane  that  they  long,  at  first,  for  the 
knowledge  of  God.  They  know,  how- 
ever, that  they  commit  sins,  and  they  may 
be  led  to  see  this  and  to  amend  their 
lives.  Thus  they  will  in  fact  draw  near 
God,  and  thus  the  knowledge  of  per- 
sonal communion  with  him  will  begin. 
Jesus,  accordingly,  sought  often  to  gain 
men  through  repentance  and  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  life  ;  and  to  this  effort  he 
brought  the  most  painstaking  and  un- 
wearied effort.  He  preached  the  evil  of 
sin  and  the  beauty  of  holiness,  and  began 
the  actual  winning  of  the  world  to  the 
new  life  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  He 
saved  men  by  winning  them  to  a  holy 
life. 


Summary  1 25 

But  there  was  a  further  task.  All  this 
could  be  done  by  living :  now  he  had  to 
do  something  which  demanded  dying. 
God  made  him  the  sacrificial  Lamb,  who 
was  to  bear  the  sins  of  the  world,  on  whom 
was  to  be  laid  our  iniquities,  and  by  whose 
stripes  we  were  to  be  healed.  Why  this 
was  so,  the  four  gospels  give  no  hint. 
But  God  gave  him  the  commandment 
that  he  should  lay  down  his  life  ;  and  he 
laid  it  down  of  himself.  He  gave  his 
flesh  and  blood  to  the  world  for  its  food. 
He  thereby  made  himself  the  object  of 
faith.  Man  needed  something  more 
than  repentance  :  he  needed  forgiveness. 
He  could  repent  himself  :  he  could  not 
"  bear  his  own  sins,"  or  provide  for  his 
forgiveness.  He  needed  a  Saviour  to 
do  this  for  him,  as  totally  beyond  his 
powers.  And  Jesus  made  himself  this 
needed  Saviour,  when  he  ascended  the 
cross  and  bore  its  solitary  burden.  When 
he  cried,  "  My  God !  My  God !  Why 
hast  thou   forsaken   me?"  then  he  was 


126  His  Own  Mission 

bruised  and  smitten  by  Jehovah,  and 
when  he  cried,  "  It  is  finished,"  then 
he  had  made  atonement  for  sins  and 
purchased  to  himself  forever  by  his 
blood  his  church,  and  thus  become 
the  Saviour. 

And  he  who  saves,  shall  finally  judge — 
a  judgment  which  shall  open  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  to  believers,  and  shall 
remand  those  who  love  darkness  rather 
than  light  to  the  outer  darkness  which 
they  love — and  inexpressibly  hate  and 
fear. 

In  a  word  then  Jesus  is  Saviour,  be- 
cause he  is  and  does  everything  neces- 
sary to  our  salvation,  provides  it  for  us, 
and  leads  us  unto  it. 


THE  END. 


INDEX  OF  SUBJECTS. 

A 
Anger,  of  God  against  sin,  35. 
Atonement,  97. 

B 
Birth,  the  New,  77. 

Blood,  of  the  Covenant,  90  ;  of  Christ,  115. 
Bread  of  life,  discourse  on,  113. 

C 

Compassion  for  the  sinner,  34. 
Covenant,  91. 

D 

Darkness,  the  correlative  of  light,  61. 

E 

Environment,  of  the   Gospels,    10 ;    of  the  text, 
Matt.  xxvi.  28,  99. 

G 
Germ    of  the    "  Kingdom,"    the    disciples,    44 ; 

Jesus,  46. 
God,  Jesus'  doctrine  of,  64. 
Gospels  agree  in  the  picture  of  Jesus,  9. 

127 


1 28  Index  of  Subjects 

H 

Healing,  the  salvation  of,  48  ;  relation  to  the  rest 
of  Jesus'  work,  56;   permanency,  57. 

I 

Isaiah,  fifty-third,  quoted  in  the  N.  T.,  20 ;  cited 
by  Jesus  of  himself,  101. 

J 
Jesus  is  the  Jesus  of  the  gospels,  7  ;  as  a  teacher, 

27;  as   Messiah,  28;  as  a  victim,  29;  picture 

of  in  the  gospels,  9. 
John  Baptist's  view  of  Christ,  17. 
Judgment  of  the  World,  119. 

K 
Kingdom    of    Heaven,   40  ;   O.  T.    idea   of,  41  ; 

Jesus'  teaching  as  to,  42. 
Knowledge,  the  salvation  of,  59  ;  meaning  of,  60 ; 

intellectual  aspects  of,  64. 

L 

Lamb  of  God,  19,  116. 

Life,  40  ;  defined,  62  ;   virtues  of,  77. 

Light,  meaning  of,  61,  63  ;    i.  q.  holiness,  63,  66. 

Lost,  meaning  of,  33,  38  ;  lost  World,  32. 

M 
Messiah,  Jews'  view  of,  16;  Jesus  as,  28. 


Index  of  Subjects  129 

Method  of  this  study,  i. 

Miracles,  motive  of,  50  ;  the  natural  consequence 
of  what  Jesus  was,  52  ;  signs,  54. 

N 
New  Life,  the,  72. 

P 

Preparation  for  Christ,  16. 
Prince  of  this  World,  37. 

Propitiation,  in  O.  T.,  and  in  profane  Greek, 
88,  ioo. 

R 

Ransom,  meaning  of,  85. 

Repentance,  72 ;  John  Baptist,  73  ;  Jesus,  74  ; 
contrasted  with  faith,  75  ;  a  divinely  wrought 
change,  77  ;  produced  by  preaching  the  truth, 
79- 

S 

Salvation,  having  life,  36  ;  the  coming  of  the 
"  Kingdom,"  46  ;  healing,  48  ;  of  knowledge, 
59;  light,  63  ;  by  "  orthodoxy,"  69  ;  of  repent- 
ance, 72;  fellowship  with  God,  76  ;  redemption 
and  forgiveness,  84;  at  the  Judgment,  118. 

Saviour  from  sin,  22,  68,  no,  113,  122. 

Sin  calls  forth  compassion,  34;  anger,  35. 

I 


130         Index  of  Subjects 

Sources  of  our  knowledge  of  Jesus,  the  apostles,  5. 
Subject  of  this  work,  3. 

U 
Unity  of  N.  T.  in  doctrine,  14. 

V 
Virtues  of  the  Christian,  77. 

W 

Words  of  Jesus,  in  what  sense  we  have  them,  4. 
World,  as  lost,  32,  36. 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS. 


Matthew  i.  21 

23 

Matthew  vii.     1- 

-29    67 

ii.    5 

16 

26,  27 

67 

iii.     1 

73 

viii. 

2 

51 

2 

x9>  73 

5 

53 

3 

17 

10-12 

70 

11 

19 

12 

39 

12 

19 

17 

24,49 

iv.  17        40, 

41,  74 

24 

53 

23 

5i 

25 

53 

24 

52 

29 

53 

v.     3-12 

43.  77 

ix. 

2ff 

80 

17 

68 

2 

75 

21-48 

67 

6 

68 

22 

77 

27 

54 

28 

77 

36  ff 

53 

32 

67 

36 

34 

40 

77 

X. 

6 

33 

44 

77 

8 

55 

vi.      1-34 

67 

28 

38 

10 

43 

xi. 

4-6 
131 

52 

132 

Index  of  Texts 

Matthew  xi. 

14 

21 

Matthew  xxvii. 

46     125 

28 

68 

xxviii.19 

95 

xii.  46 

23 

xiii.  24 

44 

Mark  i.3 

78 

30 

121 

4 

i8,75 

xiv.  14  ff 

53 

iv.  29 

121 

xv.     6 

35 

v.  13 

53 

32 

53 

23 

54 

xvi.  18 

95 

vii.  21 

35 

27 

121 

viii.  38 

121 

xviii.     8 

39 

ix.     1 

121 

xx.  28       3 

1,  84, 

IOI, 

43 

39 

] 

[04 

48 

39 

31  ff 

54 

x.  21 

36 

xxi.  41 

80 

45 

90 

xxii.  13 

80 

47-9 

54 

37-40 

67 

xiii.  26 

121 

42 

16 

27 

121 

xxiii.     1—39 

35 

xxv.  14 

44 

Luke  i.  17 

18 

31  ff 

44> 

121 

35 

23 

37 

121 

ii.  19 

23,27 

37-40 

70 

34 

23 

41 

39 

38 

23 

xxvi.  28      9c 

),  101, 

103 

49 

26 

xxvii.11 

43 

iii.     7 

J9>  74 

Index  of  Texts 


133 


Luke  iii.  8 

74 

John 

i.  18 

65 

9 

74 

29 

20,  22 

17 

J9 

31 

18 

iv.  18 

49 

33 

18 

v.  32 

3J>  72 

35 

21 

vii.  21 

76 

36 

20,  21 

viii.  42 

52 

ii. 

7, 

8 

5i 

xiii.     3,  5 

75 

iii. 

2 

77 

xv.     4 

34 

3 

43>  II0 

7,  10 

75 

5 

62,78 

xvii.  20 

43 

8 

79 

xviii.  17 

43 

11- 

J3 

no 

xix.  10 

3°>32 

14 

22 

xxi.  27 

121 

14, 

15 

no 

36 

121 

14- 

-16 

85 

xxii.  20 

90 

14- 

17 

68 

37 

101 

15 

78 

16 

36, 

110,112, 

John  i.  4 

60 

116 

5 

62 

17 

40 

>43>  II8 

6 

50 

18 

37,  120 

7 

18 

19 

37.8o 

11 

38 

20 

70 

12 

62 

36 

37,  120 

x3 

78 

iv. 

24 

64 

H 

66 

46- 

9 

54 

134 


Index  of  Texts 


John  v.  5 

,6 

54 

John  x.  18  85, 

no,  112 

17 

47 

30 

47 

22 

118, 

119 

38 

55 

22 

ff 

120 

xi.  33,  35 

54 

24 

39« 

78, 

120 

xii.  19 

81 

27 

118 

31 

37 

36 

3< 

d,48 

,55 

32 

no,  in 

vi.     1- 

71 

79, 

"3 

33 

no 

114 

34 

17,  in 

5 

54 

45 

64 

20 

54 

46 

30 

66 

117 

xiv,    9 

65 

vii.  17 

7i 

3° 

37 

viii.  15 

118 

xv.  13 

81,  112 

21 

in 

14 

81 

28 

in 

xvi.     8,  9 

79 

31, 

32 

71 

xvii.     3 

39,  60 

41 

38 

xviii.  36,  37 

43 

42 

26 

xix.  30 

126 

44 

38 

34 

115 

ix.     5 

119 

xx.  31 

55 

39 

3*i 

118 

x.  10 

3h 

72, 

112 

Acts  i.  6 

17,42 

11 

33. 

112 

15 

81 

Romans  ii.  14 

70 

17 

112 

iii.  25 

100 

Index  of  Texts 


135 


Romans   viii.  3 

100 

1  Peter  i. 

20 

117 

1 1 

55 

ii.  24 

IOI 

ix.     4,  5 

80 

1  Cor.  xi.  24,  25  90 

2  Cor.  iv.  4  41 

6  65 

v.  21  100 

Galatians  ii.  1— 21  13 

n  14 

iii.  13  100 

Ephesians  ii.  2  41 

Philippians  ii.  8  no 

Colossians  iv.  16  13 

Hebrews  ix.  11-14  92 

18-22  92 

26                92,  115 

10  115 

x.  19  92 

I  Peter  i.  19  117 


2  Peter  iii.  15,  16        13 

ijn.i.5  63 

7  63,115 

ii.     2  115 

iii.     3  67 

T4  39 

iv.  10  116 

v.     6  115 

19  38 

Exodus  xxi.  30  87 

xxiv.     4-8  96 

Leviticus  i.  4  96 

iii.     2,  7,  13  97 

vii.  15  114 
xvi.     6,  10,  II  16,17, 

87 

xix.  20  86 

xxv.  51,53  87 

Numbers  xviii.  15        87 

xi.     9  in 


136 


Index  of  Texts 


Deuteronomy 

xxi. ! 

\     88 

Isaiah  xlv.  13 

87 

1  Samuel  i.  4 

114 

liii.     5, 6 
7 

21 

20 

viii.  7 

41 

Psalms  ii.  6 

41 

Ezekiel  xxxiv.  4 

80 

xxiii.     1 

33 

5 

34 

3 

34 

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